


This Thief will be the Death of Me

by myfriendsarerealidiots



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: M/M, Pranks, growing relationship, this is my first published fic be gentle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25522798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myfriendsarerealidiots/pseuds/myfriendsarerealidiots
Summary: When Shinichi accidentally befriends a pesky magician at Tropical Land, his now peaceful life is thrown into shambles at the mercy of his new friend who has a thing for annoying people and a night job that no one was supposed to know about.
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 5
Kudos: 164
Collections: kaishinbigbang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my fic, this isn’t exactly what I’d call my best one but it certainly is the longest, so sit back and enjoy reading all the while cringing at my terrible writing.

A warm breeze blew through the slightly opened window in Shinichi’s room. It was barely light out when he pried open his eyes. He pushed off his blanket and lifted a sleepy hand to his eyes, trying to cover them from the little sunlight entering the room. It was earlier than when he set his alarm for, Shinichi quickly realized after a glance at his window. Shinichi sighed. He was desperate for more sleep but now that he was awake it wasn’t going to happen. When he wakes up, there’s no more going back to sleep even if he pulled an all-nighter several hours earlier. 

Despite his body’s protests, he willed himself out of bed and into a fresh set of clothes then down the stairs and into the kitchen where he made himself a steaming pot of coffee. The aroma of the coffee drifted around the empty Kudo Mansion, filling it with warmth. He poured himself a mugful. He picked it up, feeling it’s warmth beneath his hands. Shinichi took a sip, filling his throat with the warm, bitter and caffeine filled liquid. Already feeling more awake than a few minutes ago, he picks up the coffee filled mug and heads to the front door. 

The sky had grown brighter than when he had woken up by the time he got the post. He held it all in one hand as he took another heartwarming sip of coffee. It was the usual that he received on weekdays—a case file or two from Megure and several postcards showing all kinds of things in Osaka from Hattori. Shinichi usually disregarded his fellow detective’s invitations and taunts as his pure love for his hometown. He even texts Shinichi about it from time to time, inviting him over to his house to hang out and see the beauty of Osaka. 

The case files on the other hand, were usually cases that Division one, the ones in charge of homicide cases and the like were having trouble with. He asked Megure whenever they were having trouble with cases, they could send it to him and Shinichi will solve them whenever he’s free. Upon a glance, he could tell that the ones he held in were a case of a missing murder weapon and the other was a locked room murder. 

He turned his back to the gate and began walking back into his house when he heard the all-to-familiar sound of Ran’s voice. She used to come by everyday until they got to University by then she said in an embarrassed voice, ‘It’s childish for me to visit you everyday just to make sure you eat.’ She stopped coming around everyday, visiting only when her schedule is clear and has nothing to do or she needs Shinichi for something. 

“What do you need today, Ran?” Shinichi casted her a glance over his shoulder. “Another case your dad can work on?” He joked. Her father was a notoriously terrible detective who only drank beer, bet on horse races and played pachinko. 

“Very funny, Shinichi.” She rolled her eyes and her hands were on her hip. “I want to go to Tropical Land with you.” 

Shinichi stopped in his tracks. His grip on the files, postcards and his already half empty coffee mug tightening. “Why?” He asked, making sure his voice won’t shake. 

“Do I need a reason?” Ran replied bashfully. She grabbed a lock of her hair and twisted it in between her fingers. A light pink tint made its way onto her cheeks. “I just missed hanging out with you.” 

“Come in.” Shinichi sighed. It was too early to deal with Ran but he can’t just leave her outside. She can get in regardless of what he does. He gave her a key when she started coming everyday so that he won’t have to open the door for her everytime. 

Shinichi placed down the contents of his post onto the kitchen table. Finishing his first cup of coffee, he got the coffee pot from the counter and refilled his mug to the brim. He finished half the mug when Ran walked into the kitchen. At the sight of him, she made an impatient sound. 

“You shouldn’t live on just coffee.” She warned, eyeing him as he gulped down the other half of the contents and refilling the mug once more. “It’s not good for your health.” 

“I know.” Shinichi replied, his tone bored. He was already used to her mom-like attitude whenever she came by. “Anyways,” He started. “Why Tropical Land?” 

Shinichi sat down on one of the stools that lined the bar-like table that stretched across the majority of the kitchen. Ran walked towards the fridge and opened it. “Because…” Ran trailed off, thinking of a possible excuse as she searched the little contents of Shinichi’s fridge. Eventually, she gave up and closed it. She stood up straight to face Shinichi and scrunched her eyebrows as she thought. “It’s fun there.” 

“Se-seriously?” He deadpanned. His mug slipped an inch from shock as he eyed her. 

“Yes, I’m serious.” Ran glared at him. She slammed her hands on the counter, making a loud ‘bang’ sound resonate throughout the kitchen. Shinichi jumped. Despite their height differences, he felt small against Ran when she’s angered. It has never changed since Ran learnt Karate all those years ago in order to protect herself from bullies. 

“Don’t you have classes today?” Shinichi asked. 

“Nope!” She answered. 

He sighed, dropping his head all the way to the tabletop. It felt cold against his cheek, as if the table had been frosted over during the winter and hadn't defrost. “Ran, I have an afternoon class today.” Shinichi said, voice muffled. 

“You can skip one class, Shinichi.” Ran looked down at him. “It won’t kill you.” 

“Uh huh.” He hummed. “And I don’t help the police solve murders on a daily basis.” 

“I can see you rolling your eyes.” She said, leaning in closer. “Mou, Shinichi please.” He could feel her breath against the hairs on his arm. It was warm just like his coffee. 

Shinichi raised his head. Ran was standing several feet away from him but her face was inches away from his own. “Why are you so close?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“I..uh..mou Answer me first Shinichi!” She quickly backed away and turned her back to him. “You didn’t have to say it like that.” Ran muttered, her cheeks warm. 

“Fine.” 

“What?” Ran whipped her head around. She gave him a dubious look. 

“I’ll go with you to Tropical Land.” Shinichi muttered as he nervously tapped on the counter. 

“Yay!!” Ran smiled. “Solve your cases in two hours. I’ll be at my house.” Shinichi heard the sound of the door closing as she left the mansion and left him to his case files. 

Shinchi gathered his post that was scattered on the table along with his newly refilled cup of coffee and brought them to his mansion’s two-storey library. He deposited Hattori’s post cards to their respective drawer inside his father’s desk which he recently cleared out. There were several neat piles of postcards within the drawer, filling out three-fourths of it. He couldn’t deduce any rhyme or reason for Hattori to send him almost 10 postcards every week except for ‘Hattori has run out of retorts for Kazuha and has too much time on his hands.’ Maybe he should write that down on a postcard from Tokyo and send it to his hotheaded friend.

Placing the rest of the things in his hands on the desk, he took a seat on the velvet lined chair behind it. Shinichi picked up the file on the locked room muder, its folder brown and sides worn down with use. The papers inside smooth and covered with text from top to bottom with a few pictures in between paragraphs. This must’ve been Sato’s work, Shinichi thought. She was always very keen on details. Those little details are what will help him solve the case and the next within the next two hours. 

He leaned back into the chair and took a deep breath in. Shinichi pulled at his seat to move closer to the desk. A pen he got from the right top most drawer was in his hand, tapping it on the table from side to side as he read. 

꧁꧂

Shinichi knocked on the door of Ran’s house above the Mouri Detective Agency. “Shinichi! You’re early!” Ran said in surprise. Her long, nut brown hair was tied in a bun above her head. She was wearing an apron that was light blue and covered with little sunflowers. In her right hand she held a spatula whose tip was shiny with a thin layer of oil. Her left was rested on the doorknob. “Come inside for a bit.” 

He hadn’t been to Ran’s house since the days her mother lived with them but it looked almost the same as fifteen years ago. Their table still sat in the middle of the room across from the TV. Shinichi was surprised to find that it was still the same table. He thought that Ran would’ve gotten a new one, given her father’s late night to noon the next day habits of chugging down several cans of beer. Same couldn’t be said for the TV which has been changed to one of the newest kinds on the market. 

The room was still the same shade of rosy pink. Although, Shinichi could see spots that were a slight change in color. The spots were at arm level and each had a slight dent in the middle of them with small cracks making spider web patterns around it. He couldn’t help but shrink in his place. An angry Ran was the last thing he wanted in a public place. 

“Wait a little bit, Shinichi.” Ran said, her head peeking into the main room. “I just need to cook breakfast for my dad for when he wakes up.” 

“That’s fine.” Shinichi yawned. He propped his head onto his arm that was on the table. “We need to pass by the police station on the way there. I have something to give Megure-keibu.” 

“Is it another case?” 

“Yep,” Shinichi answered, taking her silence as permission to continue. “The victim is a 27 year old named Asami Hiro. He used to teach physics in Teitan University. He has one brother who the police found lurking near the scene. After a background check done by the police, they found out that he also taught at the same school as a chemistry professor. The brother, Asami Gaku confessed that the victim had an ex-lover named Miyazawa Kazumi who was a colleague that taught biology. 

“Hiro-san was found by his neighbor, Haruki Saba who came over to bring food. Both the door and the window to the apartment were locked. Haruki-san asked the landlady to open it when no one was answering. The body was found hung in the living room of the apartment with a chair toppled over next to the victim. Cause of death was asphyxiation. Hiro-san died an hour before the police arrived on site. 

“Suspects are Gaku-san and Miyazawa-san. Haruki-san was removed from the suspect list because she had an alibi for the time of the murder— a video call with one of her friends. 

“Both suspects have motives to kill. Gaku-san was dumped by Miyazawa-san in order for her to date Hiro-san. And Miyazawa-san was dumped herself by the victim after a falling out. 

“The police found no signs of struggle but found several drops of a metallic substance that forensics identified as Gallium around the door. There were no fingerprints or hairs that were found on the scene.” Shinichi finished, taking a minute to catch his breath. “Who do you think did it?” 

“Hmm…” Ran hummed pensively. “The brother?” She guessed not long after. 

“Bingo,” he said triumphantly as Ran walked into the room with a tray of dishes in hand. She placed it down in front of them while she took a seat opposite Shinichi.

“I guessed that it was him but why?” 

“The brother being a chemistry teacher would be aware of the element called Gallium and its properties which is a key evidence in this murder. Most important of the properties for this trick is its melting point which is at 29.76 degrees centigrade. 

“If Gaku-san made a mold of the key that was found inside a cabinet drawer then he could’ve made a spare out of Gallium. Miyazawa-san doesn’t have a background in chemistry but she could also know about this but there should be proof that inevitably shows that Gaku-san is our murderer. 

“Metals like Gallium leave a stain on things that it touched, so if the police search his belongings they should be able to find a pair of gloves or a shirt with even a minute trace of the metal.” He explained. 

Ran hummed for a moment while drumming her fingers across the table. “That’s something new.” She said, getting up from the table and removing her apron along with the hair tie holding her bunned hair up, releasing her hair to the wind. “We can leave now.” 

“Alright.” Shinichi picked up the files that he brought with him together with a paper with the solution covering it from top to bottom. “Let’s go then.” He said, heading to the door. And with a small twist of a wrist they were outside walking towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters.

Their trip to the police headquarters was filled with conversation topics that go from how many cases Ran’s father solved that week to the sheer amount of homework they received from university despite having different courses. Ran was aspiring to be a lawyer similar to her mother, Kisaki Eri and so she was in her second year of studying for her bachelor of laws. Shinichi, on the other hand, was studying criminology. 

Before they knew it, they were standing in front of the police headquarters. It was a giant wedge-shaped building that had blue colored concrete in the front and windows covered all the sides. Atop the giant wedge, a red and white communications tower sat like a candle on a birthday cake. The building was home to the different bureaus, departments and divisions of the Metropolitan Police Force. 

“Ah. Kudo-kun. Nice of you to drop by today.” Megure said as he spotted the pair enter headquarters. “And you brought Ran-kun today.” 

Over the years of Shinichi randomly coming across dead bodies, he and Megure have developed some sort of partner relationship. Since the time when Shinichi was sixteen, Megure has gradually gotten used to calling him whenever the police have gotten themselves in a pinch. 

“I don’t have much time to explain the solutions to you today, Megure-keibu.” Shinichi explained, using his eyes to point at Ran who engaged a conversation with Sato. The police inspector took the hint and gave him a shallow nod. “So I wrote the deductions and evidences needed to support them in here.” He gestured to the folders in his hand. “As well as the necessary means to get the culprit to confess.” 

“Just as expected from you.” Megure smiled as Shinichi handed him the files. “We’ll let you know if we need your assistance.” 

“Alright,” He responded. “Come on, Ran. Let’s go get this over with.” Shinichi waved Ran over. 

“It was nice to talk to you again, Sato-keiji,” She added, winking. “I hope you and Takagi-keiji get married soon.” 

“B-bye, Ran-chan,” Sato turned an embarrassing shade of red. 

Ran chuckled. She waved goodbye to Sato then approached Shinichi who was waiting for her by the elevator. “Took you long enough,” Shinichi muttered in between his teeth. “Hurry up, you’re the one who wanted to go to Tropical Land in the first place.” 

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” She said, hopping into the elevator after him. They stood next to each other, Ran’s hair brushing against Shinichi’s arm everytime she shifted her weight from foot to foot. 

Shinichi opened his mouth to ask her to stop only to be interrupted by the quiet bell of the elevator, indicating that they have reached the ground floor. Ran stepped out of the door briskly followed by Shinichi who managed to avoid the incoming crowd of officers. It was like the great flood whenever the elevator was busy. Officers from the inside would switch with their colleagues on the outside. Each one holding either a stack of papers, a cup of coffee from the shop nearby or their cellphone, texting family or civilians who were involved in a recent case. 

Whenever he wasn’t in a rush, Shinichi always tried to avoid the aforementioned ‘rush hours’ within the police headquarters in order to not bother Megure so much and to avoid getting claustrophobic while passing through the many corridors and halls. 

“Ran, do you want to take a taxi to Tropical Land?” Shinichi asked, turning around to face her. He could still see the iconic red and white tower that sat atop the police headquarters along with a couple windows that were beneath it. There were a few skyscrapers in the way but they didn’t obscure the tower that much. “I don’t feel like walking all the way.” 

“Sure,” she replied immediately. “I’ll call one over.” Ran headed to the edge of the sidewalk and waved her hand to catch the attention of an incoming taxi that stopped next to her. 

“Amazing, that was a new record.” Shinichi said in awe. “You’re really good at things like this.” Ran’s luck was something he could never attempt to solve with logic. She was just really good at things that required Lady Luck’s favor and that was all there was to it. 

“It’s nothing. Now come on before the driver gets impatient.” She got into the taxi with Shinichi clamoring in after her. 

“Where to?” 

“Tropical Land.” Ran answered without a second thought. 

They were seated with almost no space in between them. It wasn’t something new. He and Ran used to share chairs when they were still small enough to fit on the same one. Although, those times Ran kindly inserted herself next to Shinichi who at the time had no friends to call his own. As time flew by and hormones became active, the personal boundaries that surrounded themselves grew to what they were now. 

He was strangely aware of every fidget or shift that Ran made. Shinichi tried his best to focus his eyes on the cityscape quickly whizzing by as the taxi passed through different roads and turns to get to their destination. At points in the trip, especially when the taxi stopped because of a traffic light, he could feel his gaze shifting from the outside world to the small tapping Ran was doing against the windowsill. 

꧁꧂

Shinichi handed the driver their fee and scutteled out of the car with Ran hopping out after him with a quick nod to the driver. The taxi drove away as soon as Ran got out, leaving both of them in front of Tropical Land. It looked the same as it did the first time the pair went. 

The iconic towers of the castle pierced the skyline. A ferris wheel stood slightly askew to the right. Several roller coaster tracks could be seen peeking over the entrance. It was packed with people of all sorts. Everyone from friends, lovers, and even families were there. Parents were buying tickets while their children were making a fuss. Groups of friends dotted the area and were busy laughing and enjoying each other’s company. Everything was a vibrant shade of greens, pinks and purples. Shinichi felt a sharp pain shooting through his temples and the world was spinning. He stood still for a moment, letting his mind process things slowly. The noise in his head eventually died down as he took a few deep breaths to steady himself. 

“-inichi! Shinichi! Oi! Detective Otaku!!” Ran was shouting into his ear by the time he came to. Her face was scrunched up and he could feel her glaring at him. “Oi, are you ok?” Her expression softened up. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Shinichi waved her off. “It’s just that some...unexpected things happened last time we were here.” 

“Okay! Let’s go before you have another panic attack then!” She exclaimed cheerfully. They weaved in and out of crowds with Ran in the lead pulling Shinichi behind her. Ran bought them a pair of tickets and headed inside. 

Ran bounced her way into the central hub of the theme park. Fountains lined the perimeter of the hub, each gushing out a pillar of water several feet tall. Groups of people filled the area either walking, talking or taking pictures. Shinichi struggled to keep up with Ran. He could barely see the tip of her hair amidst the crowd. She was several meters away, further from the central hub and closer to the castle that stood in the back of the hub. 

Shinichi weaved his way through groups of people taking pictures. It was a struggle to not get squished. For being a weekday it was pretty crowded, He inwardly groaned as he spotted Ran waiting for him in front of the majestic pink and white castle. She waved her hand in a big semi-circle, signaling him where she was like a child. 

“Shinichi! Hurry up!” Ran shouted eagerly. “The lines aren’t going to get any shorter.” 

“Coming,” Shinichi sighed. He quickened his pace to catch up to her. She wore a huge grin on her face, one that made her eyes crinkle as she smiled. It was an infectious smile, Shinichi thought, smiling himself. “Where are we headed now?” 

She playfully shrugged. “Over…” Ran trailed off as she looked around for a ride. “There.” She said, her finger settling on the gigantic ferris wheel. 

Shinichi raised an eyebrow. “Did you just decide on that now?” He facepalmed and shook his head. “Whatever, come on.” He grabbed Ran’s hand and led her around buildings and their surrounding crowds. 

Shinichi knew that Ran didn’t mind being dragged around by him. She had an idea about the incident five years ago that made him paranoid or even fearful of the cheery-eyed and smile-filled place that was Tropical Land. Things, evil things were happening everywhere especially where people least expect it. 

When they arrived in front of the ferris wheel, they both felt small compared to it. The ferris wheel had the words ‘Tropical Land’ etched across the center. It was by far, the tallest structure within the property and the one that garnered the most attention. People were lined up starting several meters away from the boarding platform for the ferris wheel. Shinichi loosened his grip on Ran’s hand when they reached the end of the line and stood behind a couple who were busy arguing to notice the addition of another group and the slight movement of the line. 

He gently tapped the shoulder of the male in front of him. “Excuse me, the line moved.” Shinichi informed the couple who stopped their bickering. Simultaneously, they both turned their heads to the previously filled gap between themselves and the group in front of them. 

The guy he tapped on the shoulder turned to face him and Ran. From behind, Shinichi could only see his messy brown hair that sat atop of the guy’s head. Now that he got a clear view of his face, Shinichi could feel a slight twinge of familiarity in it and that they were around the same age. He grinned before taking his companion’s hand and walking forward to the edge of the line once more. 

“Doesn’t he look a little bit like you, Shinichi?” Ran whispered into his ear while they followed the duo. Shinichi’s eyes widened as he let Ran’s question sink in and process it properly. He did look similar to Shinichi, minus the hair. 

“He does, doesn’t he.” Shinichi muttered. “Last time that happened, someone tried to frame me for a crime.” 

Ran opened her mouth to give a retort only to be stopped by a sudden poof of smoke, making her gag from inhaling it. 

“Whoops.” A voice similar to Shinichi's said. “Are you alright, Neechan?” 

“I’m alright.” Ran coughed. 

“That’s good to hear,” he continued, his tone loosening “thank you for telling us to move forward.” He smiled, giving Shinichi a small nod. “Although, I would’ve noticed if someone wasn’t distracting me.” His companion, a girl who looks similar to Ran glared at him, arms at her hips and eyes focused on their prey. 

“It’s your fault for insulting Hakuba-kun again,” She huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. “He is much kinder than you make him out to be.” 

“Like he can see anything past that old school pocket watch of his. All he knows is how to criticise time and accuse me of being something I’m clearly not.” 

Ran cleared her throat with a loud cough. “The line moved again.” She pointed out. 

“Sorry.” The girl said, slightly startled. She bounced her way over to her companion who stood several paces ahead. 

“You’re Kudo Shinichi,” he said. As he did, a deck of cards appeared within his grasp and he started bridging them across his hands in a intricate manner that needed hours of practice to master and do effortlessly. “Right?” 

“That’s me.” Shinichi answered with a bit of hesitation. 

“Great! Now I can brag to that Hakubaka about meeting you.” He grinned from ear to ear. 

“You know who I am, might as well tell me who you are,” Shinichi said.

“Kuroba, Kuroba Kaito, magician in training.” He extended a hand to Shinichi who gave it two shakes before letting go. Shinichi felt callouses as he shook Kaito’s hand. Calluses are natural formations of skin meant to protect areas that face constant pressure. They would only cover his hand if he was constantly practicing his craft. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” He responded. “She is Mouri Ran, by the way.” Shinichi gestured to his best friend. She was eyeing Kaito’s companion with interest filling her eyes. 

Ran turned her attention to them and grinned. “I hope we get along.” She said. 

“Wow, your friend is really kind,” Kaito swooned with wide eyes. “Totally unlike my one who only barks at my face 24/7.” 

“Bakaito,” she growled “watch your tongue.” 

Kaito laughed, much to Shinichi’s surprise and introduced her. “This hot headed idiot is the daughter of Nakamori-keibu of the Kid Task Force, Aoko.” 

“So that makes you Nakamori-chan.” Ran clapped with delight. 

Aoko removed her gaze from Kaito to look at Ran. Her eyes were cleared of the rage that filled them only mere seconds ago. They were a crystal clear shade of blue, Shinichi noted. Kaito, on the other hand, had eyes that were also blue but they looked as deep as the ocean. 

“You can call me Aoko if you like,” she smiled. “Sorry if I scared you. Bakaito was being annoying earlier by insulting one of our friends.” 

“That’s alright,” Ran replied. “You can call me Ran, Aoko-chan.” 

Shinichi turned his attention to Kaito, or more specifically, his hands. They were making cards fly from one palm to the other as they followed the line towards the ferris wheel. It was hard to tell what exactly he was doing with them because of the sheer speed that they were going at. 

“You and Nakamori-san were fighting over Hakuba Saguru right?” He asked, trying to start a conversation with Kaito. 

“You know him?” Kaito raised an eyebrow, stopping his cards. 

“I’ve heard of him from Megure-keibu.” Shinichi answered. “He’s the son of the superintendent general, right?” 

Resuming his card tricks, Kaito nodded. “He’s the one who brought chaos into my daily life.” He said in an almost whine. Kaito noticed the lack of people in front of them and quickly realized that they made it to the head of the line. “Oi! Ahoko, move it.” He yanked her hand towards himself. 

“Bye, Ran-chan!” She waved as they entered a car that was slowly passing by. Shinichi and Ran followed, getting into the one that came after them. 

It moved slowly as the workers outside locked the car and they elevated higher into the atmosphere. It was a gentle ascent to the apex of the ferris wheel with only a couple shakes of the car from either Shinichi or Ran shifting their weight across. Both of them had their eyes glued to the windows of the car. The view of Tropical Land from above was amazing. They could see all the rides and buildings that encircled the theme park and all the lights that were on it. 

Shinichi could hear Ran tapping on the edge of the window as he looked outside and tried to get a good look without being blinded by the sunlight. Her tapping was like a steady beat as their car rose higher and higher. It was something that filled the silence, only to be interrupted loudly by the ringtone of Shinichi’s phone. 

“Sorry,” he said to Ran before picking up the call without a second thought. Shinichi assumed that whoever is calling him is either Hattori, Megure or Agasa who lived next door. “Hello?” He said into the phone. 

“Took you long enough.” 

Shinichi deadpanned, hearing the smirk in the other person’s voice. “Who is this?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. 

“You forgot me already?! I’m offended. Look through the window in front of you.” Shinichi moved his gaze from the view in the front of the car to the one behind Ran. Past the metal frame and plastic windows of the car, he managed to spot Kaito waving. He had a phone pressed to his ear while his smile reached his eyes in delight. “Hello!” He said cheerfully, something clearly shown in his facial expression. “I hope you don’t mind me taking a quick peek at your phone number.” 

“I’m hanging up—“ 

“No no no don’t!” Kaito panicked. “I have a reason for taking your number,” he said, voice suddenly filled with pride. 

Kaito’s car started its slow descent back down to earth as Shinichi’s reached the peak. As a result, Shinichi couldn’t see the expression Kaito made when he threatened to end the call. 

“I don’t believe you,” he said bluntly. 

Shinichi heard a sigh come from the other end. “I want to hang out with you more.” 

“What?” He blinked. 

“I want to get to know the Kudo Shinichi who isn’t just an impressive detective on paper,” Kaito said with a sense of finality in his voice. “Don’t tell me I need a form to do that.” 

“You don’t,” Shinichi sighed. “When and where?” 

“Yay!” He shouted, almost making Shinichi deaf in one ear in the process. “I dunno yet but I’ll text you when I do.” 

Shinichi sighed, “alright,” he found himself agreeing before hanging up. 


	2. Chapter 2

After his sudden call from Kaito, the rest of the day went by in a flash. It went by so quickly that Shinichi couldn’t remember much of what happened. All he could recall was Ran’s insisting on riding every single ride they could before Tropical Land closed that day. 

He was back inside Tohto University’s lecture hall two days after, sucking on the cap of his pen as he took note of important things the professor was saying. Shinichi would rather spend his time solving mysteries than sitting in a room listening to someone explain something he knew since he was in high-school. 

The lecture hall wasn’t filled with students, only several seats were occupied dotting the hall at different places with colors other than black or brown. Shinichi didn’t know who were in the class with him. They were too few and too spaced out to make any sort of human interaction between anyone. 

Shinichi toyed with his pen’s cap until the bell rang, signaling the end of his last class for the day. He gathered all his belongings and shoved them into his bag. Getting up from his spot in the hall, Shinichi headed for the exit and headed back home. 

The streets weren’t filled with people since it was just past three in the afternoon. Most would still be either in school or at work. The only occupants of the streets were office workers rushing past to head to clients, people who were busy enjoying their day off or fellow college students who finished class early and were flocking to the nearest coffee shop to study. All of whom were too preoccupied with their own lives to spare a glance at Shinichi who was reading the newest installment to his father’s Night Baron series. He held the book within his right hand, flipping the page with his left every so often. He didn’t have much free time to read books at his leisure, usually being used to help Division one solve murders or the occasional arson. These times when Shinichi was travelling from his home were the only times he had to catch up with his father’s novel series. 

The Night Baron was a Phantom Thief that his father created over ten years ago for his book series which contained twelve books as of late. They told the stories of the Night Baron as he stole precious items from their owners and his occasional descent into murder in order to escape. So far, his father, Kudo Yusaku, hasn’t revealed the identity of the elusive thief. 

Somehow managing to get home without hitting any lamp posts or walls, Shinichi wrangled his keys out of his bag and stuffed them into the awaiting keyhole of the gate leading into his gigantic and empty mansion of a house. He kicked off his shoes and lined them up neatly on the side. 

Book and bag in hand, Shinichi headed to the library to get a head start on the paper that was due in two more weeks. One short walk later, he was standing in surprise at the door to the library. He raised a curious eyebrow at the uninvited guest who was standing opposite him in the middle of the rows of books that lined the walls. 

A big grin spread across the person’s features as he noticed the detective standing at the door. His messy brown hair bouncing as he shifted his feet to look at Shinichi. 

“What are you doing in my house, Kuroba-kun?” Shinichi asked, a million questions filling his mind all at once. 

Kaito hummed. “I had nothing to do so I came to visit like I said I would.” He smiled. 

“You said that you would text me, not randomly show up at my house uninvited,” Shinichi corrected, “and don’t get me started on how you got in or how you found my house.” He added, 

“Magicians never reveal their secrets, Shinichi-kun,” Kaito tsked, “that’s how we keep the magic alive.” 

Ignoring Kaito’s use of his first name, Shinichi continued his interrogation. “So why are you really here?” He asked as he headed to the shelves to look for a book on human psychology. 

“Is this what you’re looking for?” Kaito snapped, making a puff of smoke appear along with a black hardbound book that had the words ‘Psychology’ written in all capital letters on the front and spine. 

Shinichi got up from the position he took on the floor to scan the lower shelves. He took the book from Kaito’s hand, duly noting the smug look the magician wore on his face. Scanning a few pages, he gave Kaito a small nod along with a thank you. “Now, answer my question you damned idiot.” He said, sparing a glance up and Kaito who fancied himself a spot at the edge of the table with a leg across the other. 

“I came to ask you to have ice cream with me but you weren’t home so I went inside,” Kaito explained. He grabbed one of the numerous pens that were on the table and began to make it appear and disappear between his hands as he watched Shinichi simultaneously read and write down notes on a sticky note. “Also, no one calls a person they met two times a ‘damned idiot.” He added, sounding hurt. 

“And no one breaks into a person’s house while waiting.” Shinichi rolled his eyes. 

“I didn’t break in!” Kaito protested. “The door was open.” 

“Proof?” He asked, “where is the evidence that you didn’t pick the lock to my gate and snuck inside?” Shinichi scribbled more words on the already cramped sticky note, making his writing smaller than what would be considered legible. 

“I don’t know how to pick locks,” Kaito said innocently. He loomed over Shinichi’s book to read some of the notes the detective wrote, only to find himself staring at text that was barely an eighth of an inch big. “How do you plan on reading those later?” 

“How long do you plan to stay here?” Shinichi retorted. He chanced a look away from the textbook and found himself looking into Kaito’s ocean blue eyes. A mischievous smile was across his face that made his eyes somehow twinkle in the artificial light of the library. 

“Until you say yes to coming out with me for ice cream and a small chat to get to know each other better,” he answered. His fingers kept playing with the pen he picked up. It flew from hand to hand as he did intricate tricks that Shinichi thought were initially impossible to do with just a simple pen. 

“How long would it take?” Shinichi closed the book and gently placed it on the desk. “I still have to finish the paper ‘bout this.” He gestured to the book. 

Kaito shrugged. “Who knows,” he said cryptically. “I’m still a stranger y’know. No one just agrees to have ice cream with a guy they met only once before.” He implied with a hint of mischief in his tone. “I can always just kidnap you and take you away from your…” he trailed off. His eyes traced the lines of the shelves and the frame of the door leading to the room, “ridiculously huge but empty house.” 

Rolling his eyes, Shinichi stood up from his seat to face Kaito at eye level. “Just so you know, this isn’t a date,” he said, staring at the magician at point blank range. Shinichi grabbed Kaito’s wrist and dragged him out of the library. He startled Kaito with the sudden outburst, making the latter drop the pen as he was being pulled along to the entryway. The lack of something to fidget with left Kaito playing with the hem of his shirt as he kicked on his shoes. 

Shinichi let Kaito do the leading to wherever he planned on taking him. He wasn’t familiar with any shops that weren’t coffee shops, the grocery or the local convenience store. Shinichi didn’t go out much for things other than school or the necessities, leading to his lack of knowledge about the up-and-coming shops that lined the streets of Beika. 

It was an interesting walk with Kaito filling the silence between Shinichi’s one-sentence answers with his own stories of what seemed to be his everyday life. Shinichi learnt things about his companion that never seemed to cross his mind, like how Kaito was an honor student in high school or he was studying under an engineering course. From the pieces Shinichi managed to pull from Kaito’s stories he could tell that he was more than a simple magician who played constant pranks on his close friends. 

The walk from Shinichi’s house to where they were headed which turned out to be Café Poirot, usually took five minutes but with Kaito it seemed to take hours with every story that got told. Cafe Poirot is the cafe that can be found beneath Ran’s home. Shinichi and Ran used to go there to have a snack whenever he came by to say hello or to talk to her about a school project. 

As Shinichi opened the door, the familiar sound of the bell sounded, informing the staff that a new patron had arrived. 

“Coming!” A waiter shouted in response to the bell. A man in his early thirties with fairly dark skin and blonde hair approached them. “Kudo-kun?” He said in surprise, eyes widening. 

“Amuro-san.” Shinichi blinked. “You’re still working here?” 

“It’s a rather charming sidejob,” He commented. “I got attached.” Amuro admitted with a crooked grin and a hand to his nape. 

Kaito looked back and forth between Shinichi and the waiter, searching for a possible link. Shinichi was quick to notice his companion’s confusion and introduced his acquaintance to him. “This is Amuro Toru. We met over a troublesome case a year ago and he’s been working here ever since.” Shinichi stopped to gather his breath before continuing. “Amuro-san, this is Kuroba Kaito, an acquaintance I accidentally made a couple days ago.” 

“Accidentally is a harsh word, Shinichi-kun~,” Kaito whined, tugging at Shinichi’s sleeve. 

“No matter what I say, I know you won’t take offense.” Shinichi defended. 

“I didn’t know you had a twin brother, Kudo-kun.” Amuro said before Kaito could open his mouth for a retort. “Anyways, take a seat.” He gestured to the lot of empty tables that spotted the cafe. The seats that lined the walls were a vibrant red color that was made of a velvet-like material while the seats that were freestanding were made of a light-colored wood and lined with the same velvet material. The walls were a shade of lavender that spread across the entirety of the small cafe. 

Shinichi took the seat nearest to the wall and Kaito sat opposite him. Amuro handed them both a menu and left to entertain another patron. Kaito flipped his menu to the page for sweets, his mouth salivating from the pictures and descriptions. 

“What should I get?” He muttered under his breath. Everything looked really delicious. From the colorful parfaits made with fruits to the steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. Kaito let out a sigh in surrender.

“Azusa-san, over here.” Shinichi called over the waitress of Cafe Poirot. 

Kaito looked at Shinichi with surprise covering his features. “I wasn’t ready yet.” He sighed, “everything looked too good to eat.”

“Nice to see you again, Shinichi-kun.” She smiled before she noticed who sat across from him. When she did, her eyes widened in shock. “Does Ran-chan know that you’re…” she trailed off, pointing at Kaito with her eyes. 

Shinichi sighed, “why is that the first thing people assume when I go out to eat with someone of the same gender.” He rubbed a finger against his temple. “Azusa-san, may we order?” 

“S-sure!” She stuttered. Azusa reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a pastel yellow notepad along with a pen. 

“A lemon pie for me and a chocolate parfait for him.” He told her, not minding Kaito’s repeated protests that were silenced at the mention of a chocolate parfait. 

Azusa left after double checking that she wrote down the correct order. Once she left, Kaito stared at Shinichi with eyes as big as a child on christmas day. “How did you know they had a chocolate parfait here?” 

“Ran used to order a chocolate and tropical parfait in rotation whenever we came here.” Shinichi answered nonchalantly. He rested his head atop his arm that was propped onto the table. 

“How did you know I wanted one?” 

“Your eyes kept drifting from the parfaits to the hot chocolate which was on a separate page of the menu.” Shinichi yawned. The all-nighter he pulled the day prior was moving in quick despite his attempts to fuel his energy with caffeine. He was going to have to take a nap when Kaito leaves. “Anyways, I’m pretty sure you came by for something that wasn’t parfaits, so what was it?” 

Kaito’s fingers traced the rim of the glass of water Amuro just placed on the table as Shinichi was talking. The small motions of his finger made the water ripple at the surface and rock the ice cubes back and forth. “You caught me,” Kaito smiled cheekily. “I came by to one, get to know you better, and two, invite you to a small magic show I’m going to be doing at a relative’s bar.” 

“Why exactly do you want to spend time with someone who you met accidentally?” Shinichi raised a brow. 

“Because you seem like a fun person to be around.” He laughed. “Your friend, Mouri-chan was it? Seemed like she was having a fun time being with you.” 

“You wouldn’t be saying that once dead bodies start appearing like popcorn.” Shinichi rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised nothing has happened yet.” He remarked, taking a look around the cafe. 

“Don’t worry about me,” Kaito assured. “Lady luck adores me.” 

“I’m sure she does.” 

Amuro carried a tray that had their food on top. “Here are your orders, a lemon pie and chocolate parfait.” He said, placing them down onto the table. The lemon pie was exactly as Shinichi remembered it. A pale yellow wedge of custard lined with a flakey crust topped with a small hill of merengue that was toasted with a blowtorch. Kaito was surprised when he saw the tower of ice cream, chocolate and whipped cream that was his parfait. 

“They should put this on the menu,” Kaito said in awe. He stuck the spoon that arrived with the parfait into the side and tried to get a piece of every layer. 

“Idiot.” Shinichi said bluntly. “Then everyone would turn into chocolate obsessed monsters like you.” He sliced a small piece of the pie and it filled his mouth with the acidic, sweet and creamy taste that he loved about the desert. 

“Do you want to taste it?” He said out of the blue,

Shinichi looked up from his half eaten slice of pie. “Excuse me?” 

“Do you want to try my parfait?” Kaito repeated. 

“Preferably no.” Shinichi answered without a second thought but quickly changed his mind when he saw Kaito’s expression change. “But if you insist.” He said, reaching over his pie to get a scoop of the layered dessert. 

Upon eating the spoonful of cakes, mouses and creams, Shinichi was surprised on how it wasn’t as sweet as he expected it to be. Kaito wasn’t wrong about it being a good parfait. It had the right amount of bitterness to contradict the sweetness of the chocolate infused cream. 

“Here.” Shinichi pushed the plate containing his pie towards Kaito. “Try it.” 

“Are you sure?” Kaito asked. 

“Hurry up before I change my mind.” He warned, his fingers curled around the edge of the plate. 

“Alright. Alright.” Kaito raised his hands into the air in mock surrender before taking a spoonful of the pie. “This doesn’t taste as good as the parfait.” He said in between chews. 

“Shut up.” Shinichi grumbled, suddenly feeling warmth in his cheeks. He looked away from Kaito to hide his embarrassment. When Shinichi turned his attention back to the food on the table and by connection, his companion who sat opposite of him, he saw that Kaito had a huge grin covering his features “Why were you laughing?” He muttered, stuffing a piece of pie into his mouth. 

Kaito straightened up in his seat. “What do you mean?” He asked, 

“You have chocolate smudged near your mouth and on your finger, meaning you recently covered your mouth and that grin on your face is added proof that you were laughing,” Shinichi pointed out, 

“You caught me,” he answered jokingly, raising his hands up in surrender. “What will you do, Meitantei? Put me in jail?” 

“I don’t have the authority to arrest people,” Shinichi informed, “much less someone who could be under the charge of laughing at a detective, but I know someone who does,” he smirked as Amuro approached their table. 

“Enjoying your desserts?” He inquired, 

“Speaking of the devil, Amuro-san I was just talking about you,” Shinichi said, 

“Really? What were you talking about?” 

Kaito took a scoop out of his parfait and looked at Shinichi then at Amuro, his eyes widening. “You know some scary people.” 

“I thought it was normal for people to befriend FBI and PSB officers.” Shinichi shrugged playfully. “You’re not on an undercover operation here are you, Amuro-san?” 

“Not right now,” he replied vaguely. “Call me when you two are done eating.” Amuro left to entertain the guest at the door. 

Shinichi glanced at his remaining fourth of his pie and placed the last chunk into his mouth. His fingers traced the rim of the coaster beneath his glass of ice water before taking a sip. Opposite him, Kaito was busy scraping clean the remnants of his chocolate parfait. He occasionally made the glass clink against the metal of the spoon, adding into the noise that made Cafe Poirot feel so homey. 

“I’m paying,” Kaito said. His eyes dared Shinichi to protest as he walked up to Amuro-san who was behind the counter upfront making what Shinichi presumed was an order for his neighborhood famous sandwich. 

Pressing fingers against his temples, Shinichi tried to relieve the pain accumulating in his head. “I will never understand that guy,” he chuckled, 

“Understand who, Shinichi-kun?” Kaito leaned into Shinichi’s line of sight, making him jump in surprise. 

“My dad’s character,” He answered plainly, “the Night Baron will forever be an enigma I could never solve.” 

Kaito sat back down, “lying isn’t your strong suit, Shinichi-kun,” he informed the detective, “I paid already, by the way, we can leave and go our separate ways.”

“Lying isn’t part of the job quota for being a detective,” Shinichi retorted, “let’s go.” He got up from his seat and waved a goodbye to Amuro and Azusa. The breeze was blowing when they exited Poirot. Shinichi had his hands in his pockets as he spotted the sun slowly slipping away from sight. “Now what?” He asked, 

“I guess this is where we will part for today, Shinichi-kun,” Kaito smiled, “bye bye,”

“Goodbye,” Shinichi waved, heading the opposite way. 

Upon his return to the Kudo Mansion, Shinichi found a note on his kitchen table. Picking it up, Shinichi read the contents. _Thank you for keeping me company_ was written in a messy scrawl on the front. He flipped the note over to check if there was anything else on it and found a P.S that was written in the same messy scrawl. _I’ll be visiting more often Shinichi-kun._

Shinichi could hear the mischief in Kaito’s voice as he read the note. His ears still heard the echoes of Kaito’s many stories. He wanted to collapse onto his bed in exhaustion but the half-done note taking was calling him to the library to finish. 

It took him two hours to finish his note taking for his essay and by then the sun had long since set. He headed to the kitchen, following a memorized route. Shinichi pulled on the door to the fridge and took out the sandwiches he asked Amuro to make for him. Placing the container into the microwave, Shinichi set the timer and turned on the device. 

A low buzzing sound emitted from Shinichi’s phone. It was in his back pocket when he checked to see a call from Ran. He answered the call but placed his phone a cautious distance away from his ear. 

“Shinichi?” Ran asked,

“It’s me, why?” 

“Just checking to see if you’re eating.” She answered, “if not, you’re welcome to come here.” 

“I’m heating sandwiches in the microwave right now,” Shinichi informed her, 

“That’s good,” he could hear her smiling. 

A loud beeping sound informed him that his sandwiches were finished heating. “Sorry Ran, I got to go.” He said, ending the call. 

Shinichi placed his container filled with sandwiches on the counter in front of him and got a glass of water. Taking a bite of his sandwich, he opened his phone to the news app. 

“Kaitou Kid defeated by police,” He read aloud, pressing the link. Beneath the headline was a picture of a smug looking inspector holding a blue gemstone the size of his palm. A sapphire, Shinichi thought. 

The article reported that the phantom thief called Kaitou Kid stole a 22 carat sapphire called the Mermaid’s Tear. Later, the police were able to retrieve the gemstone from an envelope that was sent to their headquarters. 

Shinichi snickered, “that’s not considered winning, but if they think it’s a victory, then this guy must be hard to catch.” 

He finished his dinner while scanning news articles that caught his interest. Shinichi threw away the container and washed his glass. Walking around, he turned off the lights in the library and kitchen before heading up to his bedroom. He laid down onto his bed, not bothering to get a change of clothes. Shinichi felt all his muscles loosen up at the action and not long after he was tucked in and gently snoring the night away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And our first dose of Kaishin fluff has arrived


	3. Chapter 3

The library within the Kudo Mansion was usually filled with silence. Exemptions were made for the soft sounds of pages being flipped or the sounds of footsteps pacing within its walls. That day was the spark that ended the silence that reigned over the library. Shinichi was seated at the desk near the back of the library and Kaito found himself a place on the desk where he made himself home, shuffling a deck of cards from his left to his right. 

“Shinichi-kun, are you serious?” He turned his head away from the cards to Shinichi who had his nose buried in one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works. 

“About what?” Shinichi glanced at Kaito’s concerned face before turning back to his book. 

“I’m talking about the fact that you can’t cook!” Kaito threw his hands in exasperation, forgetting that he was playing with cards and making them all flutter to the ground. 

“You better clean that up,” Shinichi remarked, peeking over the top of the book. “And the cooking is solved by takeout from Poirot,” 

Kaito let out a sigh. He got off the desk and started picking up the cards that have flown all the way to the other side of the room. “There’s no way I can convince you to help me, right?” 

“You can stop coming to my house without warning,” 

“Thought so,” Kaito deadpanned, retreating himself to collecting the cards. “You can’t just rely on takeout. It’s not good for you.” 

Shinichi closed his book and lazily propped his head atop his arm. The book pushed off to the side of the desk. “And you’re turning into my mom because?” 

“I care about you?” 

“Normal people don’t start breaking into the home of a person they met twice to ‘care’ for them,” Shinichi snarled, tapping the table with his left hand. 

“Then maybe, I’m not a normal person, have you ever considered that, Mr. Heisei Holmes?” Kaito joked, having finished gathering his cards. He piled them onto the desk. The mountain of cards covered the majority of the table, even covering Shinichi’s book. 

“Oi! What are you doing?” He spat, removing his arm from the cards. 

“Cleaning up my mess.” Kaito snapped and the mountain of cards that filled the desk was now a neat pile of cards within his grasp. “See?” 

“You could’ve done that without covering the desk,” Shinichi grumbled, 

Kaito waved a finger in disapproval, “tsk tsk tsk, my dear Shinichi-kun, don’t you understand that it’s easier to do magic when you’re up close and personal with your audience?” 

“So I’m your guinea pig, is that it?” He raised an eyebrow. The cards in Kaito’s grasp almost fell to the ground as he sprung to his feet, fumbling with his words. 

“N-no! You got it wrong.” He protested, “look, I’ll make it up to you by making you dinner every night from now on,” 

“Are you sure you don’t just want an excuse to bug me everyday?” Shinichi groaned, “not that you don’t do that already,” he added, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh how much your words wound me, Shinichi-kun,” Kaito swooned. He pressed a hand to where his heart was and melted to the ground in an elegant fashion. Somehow, the cards were still neatly piled on top of his hand. 

Kaito snapped. A big puff of smoke appeared and engulfed the library in a purple mist. The abrupt appearance of smoke made Shinichi gag as he took a breath in only to have his lungs filled with the unknown mist. It made his head spin as he tried to take in another breath. His vision started to dim as he heard footsteps shuffle near him. “-used the wrong one,” Shinichi heard Kaito say before his vision turned dark and his mind switched off. 

Shinichi’s head spun as he opened one eye after the other. “Ugh, my head hurts,” he said groggily. 

“You’re awake!” 

“Huh?” Seconds later, Shinichi was pressed into the back of his chair as Kaito tackled him dead on and held in an impossibly tight hug. “Kuroba-kun.” Shinichi glared. “Get off me,” 

Kaito seized up, quickly scrambling off Shinichi. “Sorry,” he said bashfully. “I bought things to cook with while you were sleeping. They’re in the kitchen,” 

“And whose fault is it that I fell asleep?” Shinichi muttered under his breath. 

“Hm?” Kaito hummed, “what was that, Shinichi-kun?” He was at the door to the rest of the house. An arm leaning on the wooden frame of the door as he waited for Shinichi. 

“Nothing,” 

“If you say so,” he shrugged, sounding unconvinced. He left the door frame and walked away. “by the way, you can call me Kaito,” he called back, his voice echoing through the hallways 

Shinichi let Kaito’s suggestion hang in the air. He got up from his chair, immediately feeling all of his muscles tense up at the same time. He swung his arms and legs around to loosen them up and headed to the kitchen after Kaito. 

He was standing behind the counter, peeking into the fridge when Shinichi came in. “What are you planning?” He asked, taking a seat on a barstool. Shinichi propped up his head with his right hand. His eyes looked around for any tricks that Kaito could have up his sleeves. They landed on the copper pot he held in his left hand as he fiddled with the stovetop with his right. 

“Me?” Kaito asked innocently. He turned his attention away from the stove to Shinichi. “Nothing much, just me wanting to have another detective friend to have fun with,” he smiled cheekily. 

“Hakuba-kun isn’t entertaining enough for you?” Shinichi raised an eyebrow. Kaito turned his back to him and focused on the knob beneath the stovetop. 

“All he does is accuse me of being Kaitou Kid and he’s dating Aoko, so I’d rather not be around,” he said with his tongue in between his teeth. 

“The one who stole the sapphire a few days ago?” He asked, letting his arm drop and cross over his left. 

“Yes!” Kaito exclaimed. A satisfying sounding click came from the stove when Kaito managed to turn it on. He placed the pot down onto the open flame. “That’s the one,” he smiled, “Hakuba found things that makes it sound like I’m Kid.” Kaito added “I’m not, by the way,” 

Shinichi leaned forward, the words coming out of Kaito catching his attention. “Really?” He teased, 

“You won’t believe how many times I had to give him an alibi,” Kaito rolled his eyes, “the guy just won’t give up,” 

“Maybe there’s something about you that piqued his interest?” 

“What? My handsome looks and charm?” Kaito scoffed. A playful smile crossed that reached his eyes covered his features. The copper pot filled with what smelled like curry was in his mitten covered hand. He placed it down onto the counter and headed to the cabinet. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Shinichi said lazily. He was watching Kaito precariously stack a pair of plates and glasses and bring it to the counter. Kaito placed a generous amount of rice and curry on both plates and handed one to Shinichi. He accepted the plate of food, the warmth from it passing through the plate and warming the tips of his fingers. “This smells good,” Shinichi said in awe,

“Of course,” Kaito said with pride, “I wouldn’t offer to cook for you if it was bad.” He took his plate and sat next to Shinichi. A pair of spoons appeared in the palm of his hand. Kaito gave one to Shinichi and they both took spoonfuls of the curry into their mouths. 

“So? Will you allow me to come by and cook for you?” Kaito asked when both of them finished eating. His hands were interlaced with each other on the table and he turned his chair to face Shinichi properly. 

“You’re going to do it regardless of what I say,” he sighed. His bangs brushed against the edge of the plate, nearly touching the last bits of the curry. “Go ahead,” 

“Yay!” Kaito exclaimed, doves flew out of his sleeves and confetti popped. The combination of live animals coming out from nowhere and the loud sound of confetti poppers made Shinichi jump in his seat. Kaito snickered, earning another glare from the detective. “Sorry,” 

“Idiot. You better clean that up,” 

“Will you help me this time, Shinichi-kun?” Kaito asked. A dove from earlier had perched on his shoulder and was snuggling with its owner as he petted it when his finger. 

“Just this once,” Shinichi muttered. He stomped away from the kitchen and got the broom and dustpan. “Don’t keep making messes like this,” 

Kaito looked up from his dove and smiled, “Okay!” 


	4. Chapter 4

Shinichi was standing in the library, testing out a trick that he hypothesized was used in a recent murder. A length of string was laid across the desk as Shinichi paced across the room. Without warning, a lightbulb lit up his thoughts the same time Kaito jumped in from the window above. He landed elegantly, on his feet like a cat. A small flock of doves were swarming around him. 

He sighed, “could you stop doing that?” 

“Doing what?” Kaito asked, his tone innocent as he fixed his position on the floor to support the weight of all his doves. “Coming to your house to make you the occasional dinner and chat?” 

“Not that—well that too but the appearing without warning!” Shinichi exclaimed. He took a seat and picked up one of his Sherlock Holmes novels. It was a hardbound edition of The Sign of the Four. He opened the book enough for the spine at the back to puff out. “Just as I thought.” 

“What are you doing, Shinichi-kun?” Kaito looked over his shoulder. 

“Solving a case of a missing murder weapon,” He answered triumphantly, picking up the length of string and placing it gently into the gap. Shinichi closed the book and gave it several hard shakes, nothing came out. “And that’s today’s cases done. It's only one in the afternoon right now, don’t you have classes?” 

“Believe it or not, Shinichi-kun, I came here with studying in mind,” Kaito said smugly. “Do you have any books on mechatronics?” 

“Mechatronics?” Shinichi repeated. “My father used to keep books on engineering in that area near the door on the right,” 

“Thank you~,” he swooned, heading to the corner of the room like a little child. Kaito crouched in front of the books, pulling out ones that catch his eye. “By the way Shinichi-kun, you read Sherlock Holmes?” He asked. 

“Yes, why?” 

“Nothing,” Kaito muttered. “I think detectives are just critics that follow the trail left behind by artists,”

“What are you implying?” Shinichi raised an eyebrow. 

He shrugged, “I don’t like narrow-minded detectives like Hakubaka. They don’t look at the whole picture instead focus on ideals and evidence they were first presented with.” 

“How about me then?” Shinichi asked, “I’m also a detective,” 

“Hm?” Kaito hummed, turning to face Shinichi. “You’re different from him. In fact that makes you my favorite detective,” he grinned, making Shinichi’s cheeks redden at the comment. “You’re not like Hakuba. You actually care about what happens to the murderers and see the full picture,” 

“You make me sound like an angel when I’m not,” Shinichi sighed, getting out from his seat. He crossed the room in long strides. He looked over Kaito’s shoulder to look at the book he held in his hand. The magician hadn’t noticed Shinichi behind him. “I’m more of a death god myself,” he chuckled, grabbing the book out of Kaito’s hand. 

“Shinichi-kyun~ give it back,” Kaito pouted. He tried to reach the book but Shinichi kept it out of his grasp. 

“Nope,” Shinichi smirked, “this isn’t a book for studying anyways.” He flipped through the pages of what seemed to be an Arsene Lupin novel. “But, I see why you’re not a big fan of Hakuba-kun now. You’re a fan of phantom thieves aren’t you? And Hakuba-kun came back from England just to catch Kaitou Kid, the phantom thief in everyone’s mind right now,” he concluded. 

Kaito sprung up from his seat on the floor. “As expected of a great detective.” He applauded. “Your deduction is spot on.” 

“So you’re a fan of Kaitou Kid?” Shinichi queried, handing the book back to Kaito. 

“You could say that,” Kaito answered vaguely, “I like studying the tricks he uses,” 

“Tricks?” He repeated, “what do you mean?” 

“Shinichi-kun.” Kaito’s voice suddenly turned serious. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a Kid heist.” 

“I don’t have time to watch the heists on TV.” Shinichi grumbled, tugging on a lock of his hair. 

Kaito facepalmed, “Kaitou Kid is one of the greatest magicians I’ve ever seen. He uses magic tricks to steal his targets but always gives them back for whatever reason,” 

“He steals but gives it back? Sounds pretty stupid,” Shinichi commented. He turned his back to Kaito, facing the rows of books. The titles popped out at him as his eyes scanned the shelves. His hand brushed against the spines of the books. A sense of familiarity filled Shinichi with each spine that he touched. 

“Is it?” Kaito asked. The sound of the pages fluttering filled the room. 

“A thief who gives back what he steals is only a person seeking attention from the media,” Shinichi said. He picked up his phone from the desk and opened it to the news app. Tens of articles covering numerous topics filled the screen. Shinichi hovered over the latest article on Kaitou Kid. It was about a heist that happened the previous day. The target was a large opal the size of an adult fist. Scrolling down the article, Shinichi scanned for the part that explains where the task force has found the gemstone. “Here,” Shinichi said, showing the screen to Kaito. “They don’t mention anything about Kaitou Kid ‘giving back’ the opal. So how can you tell that he’s giving them back?” Kaito stiffened at the question, enough for Shinichi to want to ask him more but the detective restrained himself. 

“It’s what I assumed,” Kaito replied quickly. “It’s not like Kid lost whatever he stole every time,” he shrugged. 

“Does your deduction include any about the motive for Kaitou Kid’s stealing then?” Shinichi pressed, 

“I..uh..why don’t I tell you while we go on a date, Shinichi-kun?” 

Shinichi blinked. “A what?”

“A date,” Kaito repeated. His eyes bore into Shinichi’s own. Suddenly, everything playful about Kaito turned serious. The lights in the library seemed to dim as Kaito approached Shinichi. He reached out for Shinichi’s hand, holding it in his own. 

“You’re joking.” Shinichi jerked his hand away from Kaito’s. His reflex took him several paces away from Kaito, pushing his back against the shelves. He saw Kaito’s face drop at his reaction. His arm fell to his side as he looked at Shinichi with honest eyes. 

“I’m not.” Kaito said, voice unwavering. A blush crept up from the crook of his neck, making him look like a tomato. “I’m being serious here, Shinichi.” 

Shinichi could see hints of the playful grin he always saw on Kaito’s face. He had to look further than the layer of seriousness that covered Kaito’s features. The sentence hung in the air as Shinichi peeled his back off the wall. “Really?” He teased, “I didn’t know you were capable of being serious, Ku-Kaito-kun.” 

“Is that a bad thing?” Kaito grumbled, 

The need to laugh itched at the edge of Shinichi’s lip. “It’s not,” he said, walking up to Kaito and giving him a reassuring pat on the head. “Let’s give that date a try,” Shinichi said, lowering his voice for only Kaito to hear. 

Kaito’s eyes lit up with excitement like a child opening a birthday present. “Yay!” He exclaimed, his eyes crinkled as he smiled. It was that smile that pierced Shinichi’s heart and made it go at twice the speed. 

Next thing he knew, he and Kaito were sitting shoulder to shoulder and they were in the train. “Where are we heading?” Shinichi asked, 

“I was thinking of going somewhere fun like Tropical Land but you seemed pretty uncomfortable there so we’re heading to a nice restaurant that I know of in Ekoda,” Kaito explained. 

Shinichi watched as Kaito played with a pen in his hand and he was making it jump and spin from one hand to another like it was ignoring gravity. “How are you doing that?” He queried.

“Isn’t the answer obvious, Shinichi? It’s Magic,” Kaito chuckled. 

Letting out a sigh, Shinichi resigned himself to watching the buildings outside fly by while Kaito continued his tricks. He felt pairs of eyes waver in their direction, either watching Kaito’s tricks or wondering why two guys of their age were sitting together in close proximity with each other. 

“People were staring,” Shinichi whispered to Kaito once they got off the train. “It’s uncomfortable, worse than somebody tailing,” he added. The bustle and hustle of rush hour crowded the station as businessmen and the like boarded trains to get back to their homes for the night. 

“That’s normal if you’re with me~” Kaito said, leading Shinichi through the crowds. “How do you know the feeling of being tailed?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I had an incident a couple years ago and the people behind it tailed me when they realized I came to,” Shinichi replied hesitantly, 

“I’m pretty sure that isn’t in the ‘detective must-do’s’” Kaito laughed, stopping when he saw the questions forming inside Shinichi’s eyes. “I won’t ask you to tell me if you don’t want to,” he shrugged, “I know you will tell me eventually.” Kaito wiggled his eyebrows, giving Shinichi a smug smile. 

“You’re surprisingly considerate,” Shinichi gaped. They were outside the station. There were less people compared to inside but it was still teeming with businessmen and university students alike. Kaito brought Shinichi to Ekoda park, its area filled with paved walkways and grassy plains dotted with trees. 

“What!” Kaito shouted, “I’m always considerate.” 

Shinichi rolled his eyes, “Yeah right,” he muttered loud enough for Kaito to hear, warranting himself a playful punch to the arm. “Anyways, care to tell me your deduction of Kid’s motive for stealing?” 

“He’s looking for something, isn’t he, Kuroba-kun?” A blond haired guy who looked around their age came up to them.

“Maybe bringing you to Ekoda was a terrible idea, Shinichi,” Kaito sighed, deflating slightly. “Nice to see you again, Hakuba.” 

“Likewise.” Hakuba nodded politely. “Is your friend over here who I think he is?” He gestured to Shinichi who stood next to Kaito beneath one of the many cherry blossom trees that were finished blooming for the year. 

“Kudo Shinichi,” He introduced, reaching out a hand, “you are Hakuba Saguru-kun, am I correct?” 

“Your reputation precedes you, Kudo-kun,” Hakuba said, shaking Shinichi’s outstretched hand. 

Kaito stifled a laugh behind his hand, “if you mean his reputation as the infamous death god of Beika then you’re right for once, Hakubaka,” he snickered. 

“Thank you for that, Kuroba-kun,” Shinichi deadpanned, 

“Back to last name basis are we?” Kaito mused, “too embarrassed to call me Kaito in public, Shinichi?” 

“Shut up, idiot,” Shinichi muttered. The warmth in his cheeks suddenly grew. “That’s not it.” 

“Then what is it?” He fawned, leaning closer to Shinichi. He felt Kaito’s breath brush past his skin. The warmth from both his breath and Shinichi’s cheeks merged, making him a new shade of pink. 

A string of indistinguishable words whispered their way out of Shinichi’s mouth. He was about to attempt to clarify his words but was saved the trouble. “Ahem,” Hakuba cleared his throat. Kaito immediately took a step back from Shinichi, giving him room to breathe. “You wanted to know why Kid steals, am I correct, Kudo-kun?” 

“Yep,” he responded with a small nod. “Do you know why, Hakuba-kun?” 

Kaito rolled his eyes. “He’s going to tell you a lame theory on how I’m Kid and all that fluff, just watch, Shinichi.” He walked away from Shinichi and Hakuba and went to a bunch of children who were playing not far away. The children were a group of five, two girls and three boys. All of them looked like middle school students with a tall lanky one, a chubby one and three who remained were mostly the same build and height with one of them sporting a pair of glasses. 

“Are you going to tell me a tall tale about Kuroba-kun being Kid?” Shinichi chuckled, leaning against the tree. He felt the nooks and crannies along the bark beneath his clothes. Their sharp edges were dulled by the fabric. “Or are you going to tell me an actual hypothesis of your’s?” 

Hakuba looked like he was going to burst. “Kuroba being Kid is an actual theory of mine,” he said, glancing at Kaito. He had cards fanned out between his hands and the lanky one picked out a card. Between the children were looks of amazement, and curiosity. Their eyes were wide open as Kaito closed his fist, opening it seconds later to reveal the card the boy picked. They all clapped for him with an exemption of two, a familiar looking girl with tea-colored hair and a boy who was the same height and wore glasses. 

“Do you really think he’s Kaitou Kid?” Shinichi asked. He eyed his company carefully. He looked for anything that could be dangerous or unkind to his situation. 

“You haven’t been around him long enough,” Hakuba sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I severely doubt that.” He facepalmed, “he’s been at my house almost everyday since he started.” 

Hakuba’s eyes lit up at the information. “Then you must’ve noticed that he doesn’t come over everyday,” he blurted out. Shinichi racked his brain for times when Kaito doesn’t come to his house to annoy him. There was a time Kaito didn’t come because according to him, he had a really important exam the next day and had to study. 

Shinichi shrugged, “he can’t always stay at another person’s house,” 

“But—“ 

“—I hope you're done talking Hakubaka.” Kaito interrupted, “as you can see, the sun has already set and it’s time for me to take Shinichi to our date. What kind of gentleman would I be if I let my precious detective get home late?” 

“The children got bored?” Shinichi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Quite the opposite,” Kaito laughed, his eyes crinkling once more from the smile on his face. “They wanted to see more but we have a date don’t we?” He purred, 

“I can wait,” Shinichi muttered, the blushing from earlier returning to his face. 

Kaito tsked, “no you can’t!” He exclaimed defensively, “Hakubaka might steal you from me by giving you baseless facts and Sherlock Holmes.” 

“Oi oi who said I’m yours?” 

“Hm?” Kaito hummed, looking at Shinichi, “just for today, Shinichi,” he smiled, 

“Fine,” He grumbled, turning his gaze to anything but Kaito. 

“Yay!” Kaito exclaimed, hugging Shinichi. 

Hakuba cleared his throat with a cough. “I hope you enjoy your...date,” he said hesitantly, “see you around, Kudo-kun, Kuroba-kun.” He waved the pair a curt goodbye and headed for the park’s exit. Once Hakuba was out of sight, Kaito reluctantly removed himself from Shinichi. The latter immediately noticing the lack of warmth without Kaito around him. 

“Where are we going?” Shinichi asked. He was a few paces behind Kaito. They had made their way out of the park and into a suburban area nearby. The streets were lined with shops that were filled with light. The sounds of shouting, music and the gentle footsteps of the people walking down the street made the area lively. Kaito stopped in front of a quaint looking restaurant. There weren’t any people outside who were lined up and yet the lights inside were as bright as any other along the street. 

“Fancy some ramen?” Kaito gestured to the ramen place. It was a rhetorical question but Shinichi agreed to it nonetheless. He pushed away the red pieces of cloth that covered half of the doorway. The inside felt warm and welcoming despite the lack of a public audience. There was a long strip of wood along the kitchen that served as the table. Besides him and Kaito, Shinichi spotted a few more patrons who were sitting several seats away. 

A casually dressed waitress approached them. A black shirt and a pair of denim jeans hid behind the off white apron she wore. Her hair, dyed an electric pink at the tips was tied up in a pony tail at the back of her head. “What would you like?” She asked, 

“It’s nice to see you again, Honda-san,” Kaito greeted, gaining the attention of the waitress whose eyes immediately widened in response. 

“I-it’s you again!” She stammered. 

Letting his head smack the table, Shinichi sighed. “Is everyone you meet scared of you?” 

“T-that’s not it!” Kaito protested, shaking Shinichi to the point of making him dizzy. “Tell him, Honda-san,” he pleaded, turning his attention to the confused waitress. 

“Kuroba-san did a magic show in our shop a couple weeks ago and helped us get a few more customers,” she clarified. “I was just surprised to see him here again and with a friend,” 

“See? I did nothing wrong,” Kaito said, “Shinichi please believe mee~” 

“Ok, ok! I believe you! Now please stop doing that,” Shinichi said, batting away Kaito’s arms. His head was spinning as he tried to adjust his place on the seat. He threw Kaito a short glare. 

“Can we have two of your best ramen?” Kaito asked, ignoring Shinichi’s glare. 

“Alright,” She smiled, writing down their orders and heading to the back. 

“I heard Hakuba-kun’s explanation,” Shinichi said, resting his head on his arm and looked at Kaito. “Now it’s time for me to hear yours,” 

Kaito chuckled nervously, “you’re really persistent about that, aren’t you, Shinichi?” He drummed his fingers against the table. Shinichi gave him a look that spelled ‘stop stalling’. Kaito straightened up in his place. “Alright,” he said, fingers pausing. “I’ll tell you my deduction...after we eat.” 

Two steaming bowls of ramen were placed in front of the pair as Kaito finished his sentence. Shinichi gazed at the food then returned to Kaito. “The longer you stall, the more suspicious you’ll seem,” Shinichi warned. 

“I know that,” Kaito smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes, Shinichi noticed. He was hiding something but Shinichi ignored it for the time and took a mouthful of ramen. 

꧁꧂

“Kuroba.” Shinichi said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Is this how you always get into my house?” Kaito had a pair of lockpicks in his hands and fidgeted with the gate’s lock until it gave way with a satisfying click. 

“Only when you remember to lock the door,” he answered, pushing the gate open and stepping inside the Kudo’s property. “Besides, whose fault is it that they forgot their keys inside?” 

“Whose fault is it that I suddenly got dragged out of my own home with no time to prepare?” Shinichi retorted, following suit. He locked the gate behind him and followed Kaito into his own home. 

“Now, now, Shinichi, you had fun didn’t you?” Kaito said, turning to face Shinichi with the biggest grin on his face. The door behind him was askew and the lights inside casted a shadow around his figure. Kaito seemed to bask in the midst of the lights, looking more like a performer than anything. 

Shinichi took the time Kaito was standing there to enter the house before the magician and hopefully lock him out for the rest of the night. They were shoulder to shoulder when Shinichi muttered his response to Kaito’s question. “I guess,” he said before being tackled by Kaito from the side. His arms wrapped around Shinichi’s shoulders, barely making the circumference. Shinichi stiffened at the sudden contact. It felt foreign, the warmth coming from Kaito. It made his stomach churn as his emotions swelled. 

“Yay!” Kaito exclaimed, “I’m glad you had fun, Shinichi. Let’s do this again sometime.” 

“Let go of me,” Shinichi gruffed, peeling Kaito’s arms away from him. Kaito hesitantly removed his arms from Shinichi who headed straight for the library after kicking off his shoes at the entrance way. 

Kaito stood at the door, his mind wandering and cheeks flushing with excitement. “And this is why I like you, Shinichi,” he chuckled, kicking off his own shoes and heading into the library after his favorite detective. 

He sat in a corner of the library that was surrounded by books, mystery novels. Most of them were written by Sir Conan Arthur Doyle, the author behind the world’s most well known fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. Kaito spotted a few books written by Edogawa Ranpo amongst the stacks that surrounded Shinichi. There were a few more books from other authors laid atop one another but Kaito’s gaze quickly drifted to the mystery-loving detective that sat in their midst. His nose was buried in a hardbound book, it’s colors faded with time but still in pristine condition nonetheless. Shinichi didn’t flinch when Kaito walked closer. 

“Shinichi-kyun,” Kaito fawned, sitting next to him. A book of his own choosing was in his grasp, a novel by Maurice Leblanc that told the tales of a gentleman thief called Arsene Lupin. His choice in novels contrasted the Shinichi's. He looked up in a sort of greeting before returning to his novel. A twinge of jealousy trailed up Kaito’s spine. The idea that a book was more important to Shinichi than him hit Kaito’s self-esteem at a hard to reach place. “Who do you think is better? Detectives or thieves?” He asked, breaking the silence. 

The sound of paper rustling stopped. Shinichi gently closed his book then glances at Kaito. “Is that even a question?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest. “Detectives are better,” Shinichi said firmly. 

Kaito jokingly raised his eyebrow. “Why’s that?” He tilted his head like a puppy. Kaito already knew the answer to his question even before it left Shinichi’s mouth but he wanted to see the way the detective’s eyes lit up when he talked about the things he liked. 

“Detectives like Sherlock Holmes see through tricks that confuse most people. They see things that others would ignore and bring the truth out for the taking.” Shinichi’s eyes gleamed as he explained. “What’s your opinion, Kaito?” He blinked, Shinichi called him by his first name and not his surname. “What?” Shinichi asked, noticing the dumbfounded look on Kaito’s face. 

“You called me Kaito,” 

“So what?” Shinichi grumbled, narrowing his eyes. 

Kaito waved his hands around as he tried to control the blush on his face. “N-nothing!” He stammered. “I think thieves are better,” Kaito added. He saw Shinichi’s eyes widen in surprise as the words left his mouth. 

“I should've saw that coming, especially with your choices in novels” Shinichi said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He eyed the book sitting in Kaito’s lap. “But do you care to elaborate?” 

“Alright,” Kaito agreed, “they make the impossible possible. It’s amazing how they manage to avoid getting caught each time they steal—“ 

“—but they commit crimes.” Shinichi interrupted. “The way you describe thieves make them out to be these amazing people but they still commit crimes. They steal things from their owners.” 

“Phantom thieves like Kaitou Kid give back everything they steal,” Kaito retorted. “Detectives are no better,” he grumbled, “they reveal things that should be kept deep inside the depths. There’s always more than one version of the truth,” 

Shinichi drummed his fingers against his book, “everyone has the right to learn the truth, no matter how brutal and like I said, thieves like Kaitou Kid are just attention seekers and don’t care about what they steal.” 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Shinichi,” Kaito said, waving a finger in disapproval. “There’s always a reason behind everything. I’m pretty sure Kaitou Kid has a reason behind his nighttime adventures. Afterall, he only steals gemstones.” 

“Then tell me what you think it is. Maybe your deduction would be reasonable enough to be considered valid.” Shinichi placed his book on one of the piles and stood up, towering over Kaito who still sat on the floor. He stuffed his hands into the pockets in his pants and glanced around. Shinichi went over his corner of books and walked to the desk sitting opposite them. 

Kaito balanced his book on top of his index finger, spinning it. “Perhaps Kid is looking for a specific jewel,” he shrugged, lying down and balancing the book on his nose. “You’re a detective, maybe you should go solve one of his heist notes and ask him,” 

“It would be preferable if you took care of my books, even if they are the ones I don’t read often,” Shinichi said, picking up the book. “The thief already has an entire police force dedicated to catching him and Hakuba-kun. He doesn’t need another detective to be on his tail that would just make me fall into his trap.” He passed the book back and forth between his hands, the sound matching his footsteps as he slowly paced the length of the room. 

“One detective won’t make a big difference,” Kaito yawned, stretching his arms above his head. 

Shinichi glanced in Kaito’s direction, little tufts of his messy brown hair poking over the piles of books. “Do you underestimate me that much, Kaito?” He asked, crossing his arms. He leaned on the rim of the table. Blinking, Shinichi walked closer to the piles of books and heard soft snores. “Kaito?” He whispered, leaning closer. “And he fell asleep,” Shinichi sighed, his head dropping several centimeters and almost hitting himself. “If you’re still awake, I’ll punch you.” He stood up from his place and got a blanket from his room upstairs. It was a thin, soft, blue blanket that was the size of a small child. Shinichi moved away some of the books and laid the blanket over Kaito’s curled up lower half. He placed some of the books back into their places on the shelves then sat at his desk. 

“Kaitou Kid, huh?” Shinichi bit his tongue as he pulled out his laptop. He started up the laptop and opened the browser. “When’s your next heist?” 

The sound of keyboards clicking filled resonated through the room. Shinichi brought up different windows with different heist notes displayed on all of them. He got a notebook that he kept in one of the lower drawers as well as one of his pens that were laid across the table. Shinichi read individual notes and jotted down his findings, like how the thief loves teasing the police in his notes or how he always wrote exact details about his heist. He opened up the latest heist note, one that was given to the police several days prior. 

_ ‘I will come to collect the beauty that is known as Ishtar’s Heart on the night that is unique to most before the moon sinks below the horizon,’  _

The heist note was printed on a standard piece of cardstock and didn’t give away anything about who the thief was. It was smart on the thief’s end, Shinichi thought, opening up more windows on his computer. His fingers covering the keys of the keyboard in no time, looking for the location of the gemstone—an emerald to be precise. Shinichi let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the museum home to Ishtar’s Heart was in Haido, the city next over. 

“Maybe I’ll pass by Haido tomorrow if a murder brings me there,” he yawned, stretching his hands above his head. He powered down his laptop and laid his head down onto the desk. 

Shinichi’s soft snores replaced Kaito’s as the latter woke up. The little tufts of Kaito’s hair shifted. Kaito pushed away the blanket and sprung up to his feet. He picked up the blanket and silently approached the sleeping detective, draping it over his shoulders. “You should take better care of yourself, Shinichi.” Kaito circled the desk and picked up a pen and notepad.

“Thank you for letting me sleep over, I have morning class today so I apologize for leaving you alone,” Kaito muttered as he wrote. He placed the note on top of Shinichi’s laptop and hoped that it would be the first thing the detective saw when he woke up in several hours. Kaito left through the front door silently as if he was a ghost. 

His only companion were the stars twinkling in the night sky while he walked down the street leading to the Mouri Detective Agency. Several windows to shops were lit and the owners were sweeping out front, preparing for another busy day. Kaito picked up his pace, heading towards Shinjuku. The night was silent apart from incomprehensible slurs of words from drunk businessmen and loud cars zipping by every so often. 

Kaito arrived at his home before the sun rose and Aoko shouted at him to wake up. He lazily opened the door and kicked off his shoes at the entrance. His home wasn’t as big as the Shinichi’s but it was less empty than his despite Kaito also living alone. It was a quaint two-storey house in front of the road. The living room was connected to the entryway by a short hallway that was painted a light beige and lined with a darker color at the bottom. 

He walked past the first floor without a second glance. Kaito headed up the stairs, opened the door to his room and laid down onto his bed. His body melted right into the soft mattress, engulfing him in a sea of sleep before Aoko started shouting next door in several hours. 

“Bakaito! Wake up!” She shouted through her window, waking up Kaito and making him fall off his bed. He groaned as he hit the cold wooden floor in his room. Kaito pulled himself up from the floor and opened the window. Cold autumn wind blew into the room as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. 

“Don’t you get tired from shouting so early in the morning?” He asked, resting his arms on the windowsill. Aoko was partially outside her window. Her nut-brown hair was tied up behind her and she was already dressed to go out. 

“If you get up on time maybe I’ll stop,” She shrugged,

“I do! It just takes longer because I fall off the bed because of you, Ahoko!” Kaito retorted, 

“Just get ready or I’ll leave you!” Aoko shouted, slamming her window shut. 

Kaito’s head dropped onto his arm. “She’s mad again,” he chuckled nervously. He closed the window with a quiet shriek. His room was lit in the late morning sun. All of his textbooks were lined up against the wall on his bookshelf that sat above the desk. His bed was closest to the window, opposite a picture of his father—Kuroba Toichi. 

He changed clothes then headed out of his house. Aoko was standing in front of his home, impatiently tapping her shoe against the pavement. Her arms were crossed against her (nonexistent) chest. A small black purse rested at her hip, matching the light blue dress she had on. 

“Where are we going?” Kaito asked, walking in step with Aoko. 

“Just a cafe nearby and maybe a mall after,” Aoko shrugged, 

“I should be preparing for my heist,” he muttered into his hand, sighing.

“What was that?” 

Kaito straightened up, “nothing!” He said, waving his hands in panic. 

꧁꧂

Aoko ended up dragging him all around Ekoda until the sun had set and the stars were coming out. They went from the coffee shop to a mall and by the time Kaito got home, he was exhausted. 

“Why that Ahoko,” Kaito grumbled as he made his way up to his room. He turned the lights on with a click from the lightswitch. He pressed his hand against his father’s picture and pushed open the door leading into a secret room within. 

It was a big room, filled with all the tools Kaito would ever need to step in as Kaitou Kid for his father. Tables filled with different gizmos for tricks lined the walls. A closet came out of the floor, its doors opening to reveal Kaitou Kid’s iconic costume of a white top hat with a blue ribbon around the base, matching suit, shoes and cape, a blue dress shirt, red tie and a monocle with a clover hanging from it. Kaito approached the closet, feeling the silk beneath his hands before he donned the costume. 

The heist building was a beautiful art gallery owned by a rich couple. Intricate pillars of marble lined the outer walls surrounded by colorful flowers. Groups of police officers and avid fans of Kaitou Kid crowded the front of the museum. The fans were pushing at police officers, trying to get a glimpse of the target for the night, a fist sized emerald dubbed as Ishtar’s Heart. 

Kaito perched himself on a building not so far away. The sounds of cheering and sirens can still be heard as he let out a soft chuckle. The gallery was lit with spotlights while the sky was patrolled by tens of helicopters. It was an hour and a half before the heist when Kaito snuck into the police’s numbers. 

Nakamori was on edge as the minutes ticked by, visibly fidgeting with his watch as the moments between midnight and sunrise shortened. He paced the room and pinched every officer inside, including Kaito, leaving all of them with a stinging red mark on their cheek. 

Tenderly rubbing his cheek with one hand, Kaito’s hand inched closer to the remote controlling all the lights in the museum that he had in his pocket. His finger rested on the smooth plastic button as he counted the seconds. 

Three...two...one… 

He pressed the button, engulfing the entire building in complete darkness. Kaito dashed towards the gem’s display case and unlocked the system locking it with ease. The lights came back on. He couldn’t help but smirk as he tugged on the rim of his police cap. 

“Kid!” Nakamori shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Catch him!” 

Kaito took off his police’s uniform, revealing Kaitou Kid in all his glory. “Nice to see you again, Nakamori-keibu. You seem to have a lack of detectives today,” he greeted, noticing the lack of Hakuba. 

The police inspector let out a proud laugh before turning to Kaito. “I don’t need an amateur detective to help me catch you!” 

“Oops, I don’t want that to happen.” Kaito reached into his chest pocket and grabbed his card gun. He pointed it at Nakamori before pointing it to the sky. “Ishtar’s Heart is now in my possession,” he announced, the gem, now in his free hand. Kaito glanced at the gem before placing it into his pocket. “Bye bye Nakamori-keibu,” he grinned, pulling on the trigger and breaking the glass ceiling with a razor-tipped card. Shards of glass rained down onto the police as Kaito launched himself into the air with his grappling hook, landing perfectly onto the roof. 

Someone started slow clapping as their footsteps came closer. “As expected from an internationally wanted thief, you are interesting to watch,” he said, Kaito turned around sharply at the sound of the voice. 

His eyes widened in surprise to see Shinichi standing opposite him with a smug looking smile across his face. Kaito wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the detective showing no signs of recognizing him. He straightened up, standing to his full height. Kaito tugged on the rim of his hat and let the shadow cover his features. 

“I was getting bored of playing around with Tantei-san, who might you be, my brand new pursuer?” He smirked, lowering his pitch by an octave. 

“Kudo Shinichi, but you won’t need to know my name where you’re going, Kaitou Kid.” 

“Where would I be going, Meitantei?” Kaito asked, narrowing his eyes. “You can’t put me in jail if you can’t catch me,” 

“We’ll see about that,” Shinichi said, casually walking towards Kaito with his hands in his pockets. Kaito jumped away from Shinichi, landing on the edge of the rooftop. He got the emerald from his pocket and raised it to the quickly disappearing moon. 

“Nothing again,” he sighed, putting the gem back into his pocket before vaulting away from Shinichi with a handspring. “Do detectives even have the authority to arrest criminals?” Kaito asked playfully as he let loose a smoke bomb, engulfing the entire rooftop. 

“On special occasions like this, we can,” Shinichi smirked, grabbing the hem of Kaito’s cape. It stopped Kaito in his tracks. Shinichi kept hold on the cape as he approached Kaito. Beads of cold sweat trailed down his face despite his urging to keep his poker face on. “This seems too easy,” he muttered under his breath, lowering his eyes to the ground to think. 

Kaito grinned, taking advantage of the situation and dropping a flash bomb, blinding Shinichi. He placed the gem in front of the detective and jumped off the roof, letting out his hang glider. The police spotted him and were now chasing him with sirens so loud he could hear them from the sky. Kaito out maneuvered most of the helicopters, leaving most of them tangled with each other. He was above the fourth block of Beika City before he realized it and let out a sigh of relief. The police sirens had stopped several minutes after they started chasing him, presumably got stuck in traffic or lost sight of Kaito. He landed on top of the roof of Shinichi’s house and quickly changed out of his costume before sneaking into the library. 

The sound of Kaito’s footsteps went mostly unheard because at the same time, Shinichi opened the door to his mansion and stepped inside. He still felt adrenaline in his system as he walked around his house to get rid of it. He stopped by the library, trying to recall if he left the door slightly open or not. Shinichi cautiously opened the door, only to be tackled by Kaito while he was barely a foot inside. 

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Shinichi asked, trying to stay upright with the added weight. 

“How rude,” Kaito grumbled. “I was here since eight and you weren’t here,” he whined, hugging Shinichi even tighter. “Don’t tell me...did you cheat on me?!” 

Shinichi rolled his eyes as he gave up trying to peel Kaito off himself. “One, we’re not dating. Two, I just went somewhere. And three, can you get off me!” 

“We’re not dating...yet,” Kaito hinted, wagging his eyebrows and pulling himself away from Shinichi. 

“What do you mean by that?” Shinichi deadpanned as he walked into the library with relatively sore leg muscles. 

“Don’t you want me to ask you out properly?” 

Shinichi blinked. “Excuse me?” 

“Well...I’ve been coming over for a while now and we’ve been on a couple dates..what I’m trying to say is..Shinichi will you be my boyfriend?” Kaito declared. 

It felt so sudden, so unplanned and yet Shinichi wanted to say yes for some reason. His mind swirled with thoughts as Kaito looked at him with big eyes, awaiting his answer. He took a step back as a flush covered his features. Shinichi brought his hands over his mouth in shock. “I-I need to think about it…” he muttered. Kaito’s eyes drooped downwards. Shinichi tasted guilt at the back of his throat. “I probably will accept..I just need to mentally prepare myself.” 

At the edge of that sentence, Kaito lit up with a spark. “Yay!” He exclaimed, jumping up and hugged Shinichi before hastily peeling himself away and disappearing within a cloud of smoke. 

Shinichi fanned away the smoke, clearing out the library to find a red rose on the table along with a note. He picked up the flower, its petals soft to the touch and sweet to smell. The note was on a piece of cardstock, written in beautiful handwriting. 

‘ _ I love you’  _

His cheeks turned a darker shade of red as he read the three worded sentence written on it. Shinichi turned the card over and saw nothing else on the other side. He placed the card and the rose back down onto the table and took a step back, staggering and eventually falling onto his bottom in shock. 

“That flirtatious magician,” he grumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. A smile tickled at the corner of his lip, as the thought of someone actually liking him sunk in. Eventually regaining control over his mental stability, Shinichi picked up the letter and rose and brought it to his room. He stared at the letter as he laid in bed with the rose sitting on the side table. His mind swirled with emotions until he fell asleep, letter in hand and a smile across his face. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Shinichi.” Ran said sternly, glaring at him. “Are you hiding something from me?” She towered over him as he was drinking his morning coffee. It had been a week since Kaito asked him out and so far, he hasn’t told anyone but Ran seemed to catch it. 

“W-why would you think that?” Shinichi stuttered.

“You have been smiling more than when we were dating, spill it.” She demanded, slamming her hands against the table and nearly knocking over his coffee. 

“Kaito asked me out,” he mumbled under his breath but Ran seemed to have heard it and immediately took a step back. 

Ran blinked, “Shinichi...I didn’t..oh..sorry.” 

Shinichi narrowed his eyes, taking a sip of coffee. “What are you apologizing for, stupid?” He asked. A crooked grin appeared on his face along with a light pink flush. “I like him, he likes me, case closed,” 

“I didn’t know you...then why did you date me?!” She asked, outraged once more. 

“Maybe because I liked you and still kinda do.” He answered, muttering the last part. 

“You just made things a lot more confusing,” Ran deadpanned. She took a seat opposite Shinichi and intertwined her own fingers with each other. 

Silence came over them as Shinichi finished his coffee and headed out of the kitchen, leaving Ran inside and deep in her thoughts. He walked over to his safe-haven-turned-chaos-center which was the library, only to be tackled once more by Kaito and this time, falling onto the floor with a resounding thud. Ran rushed over at the sound and made her own when she spotted the pair on the floor with Kaito on top of Shinichi. 

“Who are you?” She asked, backing away slowly. 

Kaito scrambled off Shinichi at the sound of her voice and rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, making his hair look wilder. “I’m Kuroba Kaito, we’ve met before,” he smiled. 

“What a pain,” Shinichi sighed, “Ran, this is Kaito who is somehow my boyfriend now,” 

“Somehow?! Shinichi, you never cease to amaze me with insults I know you don’t mean,” Kaito fawned, leaning onto Shinichi’s shoulder. 

Ran blinked, slightly taken aback by the sudden introduction but approached the pair on the floor regardless. Kaito stood up to his full heist and helped Shinichi up afterward. “Oi, Ran are you alright?” Shinichi asked, waving a hand in front of her face. 

“Huh? Yeah, it’s nice to see someone who actually likes this detective otaku,” she smiled, “take care of him for me, Kuroba-kun.” Ran headed out of the hallway and soon after they heard the sound of the doors opening and closing, leaving the pair inside and alone.

“That was awkward,” Kaito said, stretching his arms above his head and walking into the library.

“And whose fault was that?” Shinichi retorted, looking at Kaito with not-so-subtle-angry eyes. 

“How was I supposed to know that Ran-chan would be here?” 

“I don’t know, use your magician skills of observation or something,” 

“Do you think I use that, Shinichi?” 

“Who knows,” Shinichi shrugged, taking a seat. Kaito circled around and nuzzled him at the neck as he brought out his papers that needed submitting. “Are you going to stay here today?” He asked, not glancing up from the papers. Shinichi felt the weight of Kaito’s arms as he hugged him at the shoulders. 

“I have to go by ten,” Kaito answered, his voice muffled. 

“Why?” 

“Beeecause, I promised my relative that I will perform for him by then,” Kaito said, poking Shinichi with his chin. Shinichi gave him a hum of approval as he continued writing. Kaito pulled himself away from Shinichi, circled the table and started doing magic tricks across the desk. One of his tricks was flinging cards into the air in arcs. He reached up to grab a card. His sleeve moved, briefly revealing a small purple bruise. Shinichi grabbed Kaito’s wrist, making the magician drop his cards. “What are you doing, Shinichi?” 

“Where did you get that?” He demanded, pulling up Kaito’s sleeve. Kaito’s eyes widened at the sight of the bruise. 

“You’re scary sometimes, did you know that, Shinichi?” Kaito mused, not stopping for an answer, he continued. “I got that when I was practicing a certain trick and nearly fell down the stairs, nothing big.” 

Shinichi hummed pensively with his thumb and index caressing his chin. “Why weren’t you practicing inside your room?” He asked, letting go of Kaito’s wrist. Kaito stooped under the edge of the table to pick up his fallen cards. 

“My room isn’t the biggest place in the world to practice magic,” Kaito shrugged, “I was on the way down the stairs while I had my hands full with juggling balls then I dropped one and almost slipped until I grabbed the railings on the side.” He stood up with cards neatly piled in one hand and placed them on the desk in front of Shinichi’s research paper. 

Kaito had an aura of playfulness around him, making it hard for Shinichi to take him seriously most times. He liked to shrug things off whenever it got to personal or close to whatever it was he was hiding. The fact that he never fully discloses where he goes sometimes hasn’t changed even when they’re dating and that’s something Shinichi wanted to change. It made the detective wonder, why did Kaito ask him out when their boundaries of trust were still far from one another. There were still many things about Kaito that was hidden in shadow, the origin of his many bruises was one of them along with what seemed to be his lack of parents. The urge to ask Kaito all the questions that sat in the back of his head always itched at Shinichi’s side whenever they were together but he thought that Kaito should reveal things in his own time. 

“Be careful next time,” Shinichi muttered just loud enough for Kaito to hear him. Although he wasn’t fully convinced, Shinichi reluctantly let go of the topic after seeing how much Kaito wanted to keep whatever it was he did a secret. 

“Of course!” Kaito grinned, “I wouldn’t want my favorite detective get worried about me,” 

“There you go again.” Shinichi flicked Kaito on the forehead, leaving a small red spot that was almost as red as the faint flush on Shinichi’s ears. “Why do you keep flirting even though I told you to stop just a couple days ago?” 

“Because if I don’t you might run away from me,” Kaito pouted as he tenderly rubbed the spot on his forehead. 

“We’re dating aren’t we?” Shinichi started, “which means, the flirting is even more embarrassing. Especially if you do it for so long.” 

“But I like doing it,” Kaito said, “it shows everyone that you’re mine.” 

“Just don’t do this in public,” Shinichi groaned, 

Kaito’s eyes lit up as he realized what Shinichi meant. “So I can do this while we’re alone?” He looked at Shinichi like a dog which made the detective jokingly wonder if Kaito was hiding a tail under his clothes. 

“Yes, you can,” Shinichi let out reluctantly. 

“Yay!” Kaito exclaimed, knocking into the table and almost making his cards that sat on the edge of the table fall once more. 

There were still many things Shinichi didn’t know about Kaito. How much the latter cares from him thankfully wasn’t one of them. Instead, it was one of the things Shinichi looked to whenever he doubted the really playful magician. He didn’t want to doubt Kaito but there were times where the evidence seemed to pile up against him. 

As Kaito’s eyes peeked over the lip of the table, Shinichi continued writing his essay while the former watched him with curious eyes and a big childlike grin across his face. Shinichi couldn’t help but feel comfortable around Kaito, especially when he left him to his devices. 

Several hours passed with the pair of them reading or talking in the library. The warm sunlight from the window above the bookshelves disappeared long ago, replaced with the dazzling blues from the moon. Kaito was perched on top of the table with a pen in his hand that he was playing with, all the while whistling a tune. Shinichi had long since finished his essay and moved on to reading a Sherlock Holmes novel for probably the hundredth time. The room was silent outside of Kaito’s whistling and the soft flutter of pages as they were being flipped, only for the sound of Kaito’s phone ringing to break it. 

“Hello? Jii-chan?” Kaito said into his phone before leaving the room with an apologetic nod to Shinichi. 

“Where are you, Botchama?” Jii’s voice was barely a whisper over the line but Kaito knew he was trying to keep away any eavesdropping folks. 

“I’m at Shinichi’s house,” he answered nonchalantly, leaning his back against the wall. “Why? It’s not yet ten—“ Kaito glanced at the time on his phone and wanted to retract his statement, “—nevermind it’s almost ten. I’ll be there in just a sec. I just have to say goodbye to Shinichi.” He ended the call and let out a sigh. There were just too many things going on with his life for it to be considered normal. 

“You don’t have to y’know,” Shinichi said suddenly. He was at the door leading into the library, his hands casually tucked into his pockets. 

“Were you eavesdropping?” 

“I didn’t have to, considering how loud your voice can be sometimes. It’s a wonder how whoever you were talking to didn’t go deaf in the process,” he replied, giving Kaito a sly smile. “Anyways, before you go, I want you to think about the fact that Kid has a heist tonight at almost exactly the same time as you need to go. I personally won’t look into it too much but you’ll never know how much other people can twist things and make evidences out of nothing.” Shinichi quickly added. “Those evidences are usually thrown out of the case though,”

“Shinichi,” Kaito said in awe, “you really are the best.” He tackled him in a hug before dashing out the door. “I’ll be back!” 

“I wonder what he meant by that,” Shinichi mused, retreating into the library for the rest of the night. 

“Jii-chan,” Kaito huffed, “is everything ready?” 

“Yes, Botchama,”

Somehow, Kaito made it on time for his own heist, albeit really out of breath which he needed to regain in under five minutes. He stood atop a skyscraper looking above the building that held that night’s target—a large diamond known for its colorful gleam. He looked out the building through binoculars and saw what Nakamori had in store for him that night. Surprisingly, there weren’t any helicopters in sight, only a couple dozen patrol cars surrounded the area with several spotlights in between. Kaito let out a snicker as he surveyed the area. 

“Tonight will be easy,” he smiled, handing the binoculars back to Jii. “Looks like I can go back to Shinichi earlier than planned.” 

“Be careful,” Jii warned, 

“Did you forget who I am?” Kaito smirked and pulled on a piece of white cloth, quickly changing into Kid’s infamous costume. “Right now, I’m not your old master Toichi’s son, Kuroba Kaito, I’m Kaitou Kid!” He ran across the rooftop and released his hang glider. 

The wind blew against his face as he discreetly made his way to the heist building. Thankfully, the police force was busy being scolded by Nakamori to notice him, then again, it was a couple minutes before the time specified in his heist note, so maybe they had their guard down. Regardless, Kaito snuck his way around the building and found the entrance to where the diamond’s display case was held. The entire building had its lights turned off, leading to very awkward run-ins with officers wandering around hopelessly in the dark and thinking they’ve bumped into one of their colleagues. 

“Is that you, Hakuba-kun?” One of the police officers asked after bumping into another. Kaito hung on the ceiling a couple inches above their heads, his hand tightening around the grip of his card gun that kept him in place. 

Hakuba being present would put a small damper on his supposedly quick return to Shinichi’s mansion in the town next over but Kaito’s eagerness to get back and give him a big hug which would most likely end up with Kaito outside the library for the next few days, was greater than his concern about being caught that night. He sneaked past the duo before the other could respond. 

From his place on the ceiling of the hallway, Kaito couldn’t see the crowds of people that surrounded the building but he could hear them. He could hear the sirens of the patrol cars that surrounded the building along with the cheers of what sounded like almost a hundred people. Despite the sounds, he hasn’t seen or heard anything about Nakamori. The police officers that passed by seemed to address as the one in charge so perhaps the inspector was busy tending to the injuries he got during the last heist. 

The cheers of the people outside shifted from his name as the infamous phantom thief to a count down to midnight. Kaito heard the footsteps of the police officers watching the area come to a halt as the time ticked to the last five seconds. Quietly lowering himself closer to the display cases, Kaito readied himself to get the gem before anyone could react then disappear without a trace. 

Three...two...one!

Kaito reached out for the diamond only for it to suddenly shift and that’s when it hit him. “You surprise me today, Keibu-san.” He mused as he hung from the ceiling like a bat. “I thought you wouldn’t be here today.” The spotlights outside have shifted from pointing at the sky to the building, engulfing everything in light. Kaito snickered. Whoever thought of this plan was pretty smart. He covered his eyes with his cape and took off his night vision visor, quickly replacing his monocle. 

“You underestimate me Kaitou Kid!” Nakamori bit back, pointing an accusing finger at him. 

“Really? Last time I checked the diamond is in my hand,” Kaito showed his open hand to Nakamori then closed it and opened it once more, revealing a diamond the size of his palm on it. “Like this. See you, Nakamori-keibu,” he grinned, bending over and getting into the vents. 

“Catch that thief!!” Nakamori demanded, his voice echoing through the vents and almost giving Kaito a broken eardrum. 

Kaito let out a laugh as he crawled through the vents and made his way out and onto the moonlit rooftop. He took out the diamond from his chest pocket and raised it up to the moon. The moonlight passed through the gem, making it shine like a rainbow but no sign of pandora was there. 

“Nothing again,” he sighed, returning the diamond to his chest pocket. Kaito looked over the building’s edge. The entire block and several others surrounding it was occupied by the accumulation of patrol cars, police officers and normal civilians who came over to watch. “Were the heists always this crowded?” Kaito wondered aloud, scratching the back of his neck. He ran over to the other side of the roof and got ready to fly off to the distance along with a brand new dummy for Nakamori and his troupe to follow. Kaito released his hang glider and the dummy to go in the opposite direction. 

The sounds of the patrol cars got blurred out by the sound of the wind blowing against him but out of the corner of his eye, he could spot almost twenty of them behind him which meant they split up to chase the dummy. Kaito went around the area where the heist was held three times before the faint sounds of the patrol cars all disappeared. He let out a final sigh of relief as he started heading in the direction of Beika. Drowned out by his excitement to return to Shinichi, the sound of a bullet soaring through the night sky went unheard by Kaito. 

A sudden pang of pain hit him in the side as he fell a few feet in the air. Kaito tried to look around for the source of the bullet, only his head to spin. He pressed a hand against the bullet hole. “How am I supposed to explain this to Shinichi now,” Kaito sighed, squinting now because of the pain getting to his head. He fell another couple feet, his feet nearing the tops of the buildings beneath him. Familiar buildings dotted the area before he noticed and Kaito realized he was flying above Shinichi’s block. He clicked his tongue in slight annoyance but it looked like he had no choice but to land in front of Shinichi’s house before his injury got worse. 

He lowered his altitude one final time before attempting to land gracefully in front of Shinichi’s Mansion. Kaito staggered on his feet as he hit the pavement, trying to keep himself from falling over. The vague sound of a door opening came through as the spinning of his head got even worse. 

“I know I promised that I won’t look into it too much but Kaito, I swear to god, you didn’t have to fly over to my house to prove it,” Shinichi sighed, walking towards a bleeding Kaito. “Good thing, I don’t like having the reputation of my boyfriend being in jail,” 

Shinichi carried Kaito over to Agasa’s house and rang the doorbell. “Kudo-kun, whatever it is, can it wait until morning?” A girl’s voice complained from behind the gate as she opened it, revealing a middle school aged, tea-haired girl wearing a lab coat over a maroon dress. 

“Can your complaining wait until you help me fix the bullet wound in my boyfriend’s side?” Shinichi retorted before brushing past her and heading into the house. “Hakase, I need a bit of a hand here,” he called out, gently placing Kaito down onto the couch. Shinichi tried not to notice Kaito wince as he placed him down but it was hard to ignore something that made him hurt so much. 

“Shinichi-kun, what are you...oh.” Agasa’s eyes widened as he spotted Kaito on the couch and the growing red spot on his left side that stood out against the white of his suit. “Ai-kun, can you do it?” He asked, approaching Shinichi. 

“I wouldn’t want someone to die on the couch I just cleaned yesterday, so ok.” Haibara answered, coming back from the outside of the house. “But do you know what time it is, Kudo-kun?” She snapped as she looked at Kaito’s wound. “Thankfully, he won’t die from this just yet,” 

Agasa glanced over Shinichi’s shoulder to check on Haibara who quickly got to work before turning his attention to Shinichi. “Why did you bring Kaitou Kid over to my house instead of the hospital?” He asked, 

“They would just arrest him if I brought him there and your house is closer than any hospital nearby,” Shinichi replied calmly, before softly adding, “he’s also someone really important to me so I would prefer to hear what he says before arresting him,” 

“Do you mean that Kuroba-kun who started coming over quite a while ago and you started dating him a couple weeks ago, right?” Haibara chimed in, “by the way, the bullet went straight through so he’s gonna be fine once he rests for a couple weeks,” 

“As expected of the Black Org’s former scientist, right on the dot,” Shinichi chuckled half-heartedly. “How did you know it was Kaito?” He asked, turning to face Haibara who was looking over Kaito who now had both his jacket and shirt pushed away, revealing slightly tanned skin that wasn’t covered with the scarlet taint of his blood.

“Ran came over a couple days ago and accidentally let it slip while we were talking,” she answered as she wrapped Kaito’s midsection in a large bandage. “You really need to learn when to tell people things, Kudo-kun. Also it’s not hard to notice someone sneaking into your neighbor’s house on the daily.” 

“I hope you know what you're doing, Shinichi-kun.” Agasa warned, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“I do, stupid, being in a coma again for another three years isn’t exactly on my list of things I want to experience again,” he replied playfully, putting his hands into his pockets and walking towards Haibara. 

“And yet you still run into danger wherever you go,” Haibara remarked sarcastically as she stood up to her full height which was slightly below Shinichi’s shoulders. Her hands were covered in Kaito’s crimson blood and her lab coat had smears of it near the pockets. “He should be fine now, Kudo-kun, tell your boyfriend to be careful next time and don’t get too active just yet, in fact he should probably just stay at your house for the time being,” 

“But Aoko’s gonna start looking for me,” Kaito groaned from the couch. “Hello, Shinichi, looks like I’m still alive,” he joked. 

“You don’t joke around if you almost died from a sniper attack,” Shinichi scolded, holding himself back from flicking Kaito on the forehead. “Also, stupid, what were you thinking landing in front of my house?! What if someone saw you? Seriously, how idiotic can you get?” 

Kaito blinked, “you’re not mad that I didn’t tell you that I’m Kaitou Kid?” He asked, dumbfounded. 

“Why should I be?” Shinichi asked, raising an eyebrow. “I was going to turn a blind eye towards your night job as long as you kept returning the jewels to their owners and wasn’t injuring anyone at your heists directly because I knew you had a reason behind it but then you decided the best place to land and ask for help so now the cat’s out of the bag, isn’t it?” 

“Since when did you find out? That your boyfriend was an internationally wanted criminal at night.” Haibara chimed in, her arms crossed across her chest. 

“Um...right after I went to his heist for the first time,” Shinichi answered, placing his thumb and index onto his cheek in thought. 

“That early on?” Kaito asked, surprised, “you’re definitely the best detective out there.” He smiled, leaning into the couch pillow and wincing as he did. 

Shinichi rubbed the back of his neck before laughing, “I wouldn’t have figured it out if you weren’t dropping clues everytime, stupid.” He went around Haibara and sat on the arm of the couch that was near Kaito’s head. “Besides, isn’t Hakuba-kun the one who figured it out first?” 

“I don’t care about that narrow-minded Brit.” Kaito groaned, closing his eyes. 

“Excuse me, Kaito-kun, shouldn’t you call your friend and tell her that you’re staying over?” Agasa interrupted with a cough. 

“Oh, Aoko?” He asked, receiving a small nod from Agasa. “Alright, Shinichi, you make the call.” Kaito said, making a phone appear in his hand and giving it to Shinichi. 

“Is her number on here?” 

“Yep, she knows who you are but if she thinks it’s me then answer as if you were me because Aoko might start ranting about Kid,” Kaito answered with a laugh at the end, 

“She’s fine with you but hates Kaitou Kid, how ironic,” Haibara mused. 

Shinichi opened the phone, scanning through the contacts and quickly finding one called ‘Ahoko.’ He sighed in amusement at Kaito’s antics before calling up the number. “Ba-Kai-Toooo~ what are you doing right now?” Aoko’s voice chimed through the phone, loud enough for Kaito to hear because he let out a small chuckle before wincing in pain soon after. 

“Good luck, Shinichi,” he snickered softly, giving him a thumbs up with his left hand. 

“I will kill you for this,” Shinichi glared, before placing the phone onto his ear. “What do you want, Ahoko?” He spat, trying to copy Kaito and gaining a few laughs from Haibara and Kaito himself. 

“Dad said he almost caught Kid today.” She sounded like she was smiling from the other side of the call. “It’s about time he caught that thief, it’s been almost fifteen years already.”

“Right…” Shinichi trailed off, glaring at Kaito who gave him a look that read, ‘I’m not at fault here.’ He shrugged off Kaito’s words that weren’t words and continued talking to Aoko. “Anyways, Aoko, I’ll be staying over at Shinichi’s house for a couple days so don’t look for me,” 

“Okay-“ Aoko answered, “if that’s all you called me for, I’ll hang up now, Akako’s in my house right now,” 

“Alright,” Shinichi said, ending the call. He was tempted to throw the phone at Kaito but held back for obvious reasons. “Any reasons why I shouldn’t murder you on the spot right now?” He asked with an evil grin across his features. 

“Because~ I’m your boyfriend and you love me?” Kaito answered quickly, looking up at an angry detective with doll eyes. 

“That’s not going to cut it,” Shinichi said, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest. Kaito opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a small cough from Haibara. 

“As much as I want to document this for blackmailing purposes, can you two stop for now? It’s almost four in the morning and I have school tomorrow.” She said, tapping her foot on the carpet. 

“Didn’t you already graduate from middle school ten years ago?” Shinichi asked, leaning away from Kaito to face Haibara. 

“Yoshiba-san wouldn’t let go of me even if I wanted to stop,” Haibara shrugged, 

“Wait, what are you talking about,” Kaito asked, trying to turn his head around to see what was going on, 

“Haibara over there is a year older than me,” Shinichi answered simply, 

“Are you sure?” Kaito asked, looking her up and down as much as his restricted motion allowed him. “She seems kinda...tiny” 

“How rude,” Haibara said, placing her hands on her waist. “I took a drug that accidentally shrunk my body to ten years in the past and made him go into comatose for three years,” 

“Oi Haibara, you promised you wouldn’t tell him,” Shinichi protested, deflating slightly. 

“You told him my real age, so I’ll tell him one of your secrets too,” she replied, sticking her tongue out like a child. 

Shinichi rolled his eyes, “you’re twenty-two, please act like it,” he sighed, facepalming. 

“But you’re always telling me to act my age, Shinichi-oniisan,” Haibara retorted, her voice childlike and unlike the mature tone she uses most of the time.

“Shut up, already,” Shinichi waved her off, turning his attention to Kaito on the couch. “What are your questions?” He asked, 

“Why do you have an evil scientist next door and why didn’t you want me to know about you being in a coma for three years?” Kaito queried. 

Standing up from the couch’s arm, Shinichi paced the room with his hands in the pockets of his pants. “Haibara is a bit of a side effect of an investigation I did five years ago, and like she said, she took a drug which had a weird effect on my body that wasn’t planned so she came to stay with Hakase because she thought it was safe there while I was in a coma next door, does that explain enough of it?” 

Kaito hummed in agreement and gestured for Shinichi to continue. “The main reason I didn’t want you to know is because I didn’t want you to worry. But who am I to be worried, you’re the one who got shot in the side by a sniper of unknown origin,” 

“I actually have a pretty good idea of who did it,” Kaito said softly as he fidgeted with the edge of the pillow. 

“Well that would be helpful information,” Shinichi said bluntly, 

“But that information should wait until both of you get a good night’s sleep and I get to school, for now, Hakase, can you help Kudo-kun bring Kuroba-kun to his house?” Haibara interjected, 

“Already?” Agasa asked, his face spelling the word surprise several times over. 

“He should be fine enough to walk if he didn’t lose too much blood,” Haibara shrugged, “now get out and let me sleep,” she huffed, turning her back to the guys in the room and trudging away.

“G’night Haibara, enjoy middle school with your friends,” Shinichi waved, scooping Kaito out of the couch in one fowl swoop. Kaito winced at the contact, his eyes closing with the sudden surge of pain at his injury. “Are you alright?” He asked, looking down at the magician in his arms. 

“A little bit of pain never hurt me,” Kaito smiled back, 

“You better be able to do things like normal soon or I’ll be very pissed,” Shinichi said, tightening his hold on Kaito as they left Agasa’s house. “Hakase, can you open the gate?” 

“Ah..alright,” Agasa stuttered, reaching out for the gate to Shinichi’s mansion and opening it with a loud creak. 

“Thank you, Hakase, we’ll be alright from here, good night,” Shinichi smiled at his long-time neighbor and friend. 

“I hope I didn’t cause much of a fuss,” Kaito said from Shinichi’s arms. “Bloodstains are a pain to clean,”

“Coming over with a bullet hole in your left side, you definitely didn’t cause a fuss, Kaito,” Shinichi narrowed his eyes, making Agasa let out a small chuckle before bidding them both good night and returning to his own house. “You are going to help Haibara get the stains out of their couch once you get better,” 

“I know, I know,” Kaito waved off, 

Shinichi shifted his hold on Kaito and carefully opened the door to his mansion, making Kaito close his eyes a little. “Did that hurt?” He asked warily, 

“Did it hurt more than the bullet passing through—no. Did it hurt more than you picking me up bridal style from the couch—yes. But I’m alright,” 

“Just shut up, idiot. I’m going to bring you upstairs so brace yourself.” Shinichi warned as he closed the door behind them with his foot and approached the grand staircase inside his house. 

Going up the stairs with no issues, Shinichi passed by a few doors that line the upstairs of his house and opened one by the window up front. Inside was a nicely decorated room that had a bed in the center with shelves of either side. A deskset sat in the midst of all the books and contained several pieces of paper that had random words and scribbles across them. The sheets of the bed were a pale blue that stood out in comparison the grain of brown wood that made up most of the room. 

“Will I have to help clean this room afterwards as well?” Kaito asked with a sigh as he looked around the small room. 

“This one can survive quite a bit, so you don’t need to worry,” Shinichi answered, placing Kaito down onto the soft bed. 

“That’s less cleaning for me so that’s good enough for me,” 

“Well go to sleep, I need to change your bandages every two hours if possible so it looks like I’m going to be missing more university than planned.” Shinichi said, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. 

“Sorry for this, Shinichi.” Kaito apologized, before he started dozing off. 

“It’s not your fault, stupid magician thief,” Shinichi muttered, smiling as he petted the bed. Softly walking towards Kaito, Shinichi planted a small kiss on his forehead before setting himself next to Kaito with a small book in hand and a smile across his face.


	6. Chapter 6

It has been two weeks since Kaito started living in Shinichi’s mansion under the terms of recovery beneath Haibara’s instruction. Shinichi never experienced such a noise filled house in so long that at first it felt foreign but as the days of just the two of them hanging out in that room dragged on and Kaito’s wound got better, the noise became part of daily life except for one day in particular that happened near the end of his first week in Shinichi’s house. 

“Shinichi~ please Hakubaka might catch on if both me and Kid are missing from his view for too long.” Kaito begged. He was able to walk around properly without any assistance but couldn’t carry anything heavy without bleeding out and yet Shinichi wouldn’t let him do anything, even leave the room. 

“No means no.” Shinichi answered firmly, “you’re still injured, you can’t just do a heist here and now,” 

“But~“ Kaito pouted, earning himself another nasty glare from Shinichi before retreating into the pillows for support. “I know!” Kaito exclaimed with a jump all of a sudden and wincing as he did, falling back into the pillows soon after. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before quickly recovering and pointing a finger at Shinichi. “You can do my heist for me.” He said proudly, 

“Have you lost that much blood?” Shinichi asked, taking Kaito’s head into his hands and shaking it. “Allowing you to steal is one thing, me doing the stealing is another,” 

Kaito snickered, “but I might end up in jail if you don’t let me go~“ he said, giving Shinichi puppy dog eyes. 

“And I will be the one in jail if you go, or worse, Haibara’s going to kill me,” Shinichi answered, putting a pillow onto his lap and throwing one at Kaito’s face. 

Catching the pillow, Kaito placed it next to him before replying, “Don’t you want to catch the guys who..murdered my dad?” 

“Of course I do,” Shinichi said without looking at Kaito, “but I’m pretty sure your dad wouldn’t like it if his son became swiss cheese.” 

“I’ll be careful, promise.” Kaito said, coming closer to Shinichi and leaning on his shoulder. 

“Your definition of careful is very different from mine.” Shinichi poked Kaito on the forehead before hugging the pillow on his lap. 

“Hmm…” Kaito hummed in thought, “if you don’t want to sub in for me, then be my assistant for this heist instead, it’s a win-win for both of us.” 

Shinichi lowered his gaze from Kaito to the pillow as he considered Kaito’s proposal. “That actually isn’t a bad idea,” he said finally, making Kaito’s face light up in joy. “But, the police shouldn’t see me, and you shouldn’t do anything overly reckless, in both our terms.” 

“Yay! Thank you Shinichi.” Kaito exclaimed, tackling Shinichi in a hug and making the pair lay down onto the bed with Kaito on top of Shinichi. 

“Oi, doesn’t that hurt?” Shinichi asked, trying to get Kaito off him. 

“Maybe?” Kaito peeped into his ear. 

Shinichi deadpanned, “Kaito, you will be the death of me,” he said after a feeble attempt at getting his boyfriend off him, letting his arms fall back onto the bed in defeat. Kaito’s warmth and his weight sandwiched Shinichi to the bed until the sun started to set and painted the room in red. Both of them managed to fall asleep soundly, only to be awakened by Haibara’s knocking on the door, waking up Shinichi who woke a groggy Kaito. 

“Haibara, you’re here earlier than expected,” Shinichi greeted the little scientist as she entered the room and approached Kaito who scrambled away from Shinichi seconds after he woke up. He sat on the edge of the bed, surrounded by a horde of pillows while Shinichi sprung to his feet and walked around the room to stretch his legs. 

“School ended earlier today so I came over on the way home,” she commented, gesturing for Kaito to lift his shirt up which he obeyed without a peep. His midsection was covered by a white bandage that had a little bit of blood coming from his left side. “Does it still hurt when you move?” Haibara queried, gently pressing a finger against the bloodstained area making Kaito wince a little. 

“Not as long as someone’s not touching it directly, I’m fine,” Kaito answered, putting his shirt down. 

“That’s good to hear. You should be able to jump around and annoy Kudo-kun within the next week if you keep this up, Kuroba-kun.” Haibara informed, gathering her things from the floor and headed to the door. “And if you two don’t mind, please don’t be noisy, I have midterms soon.” She said, glaring daggers at the pair before closing the door without another word. 

Shinichi sat down at the edge of the bed where Kaito sat with a small book in his hands. “I wonder what she meant by that.” He thought aloud. 

“Do you want to know?” Kaito asked, wiggling his eyebrows. 

“On second thought, nevermind.” Shinichi responded, softly. “Anyways, when are you planning your heist?” 

“Excited are we, Shin-chan?” Kaito teased, leaning closer to Shinichi. 

“Shin-chan?” 

“It’s about time I’ve given you a nickname, right?” 

“I don’t want to imagine where you got that nickname from,” Shinichi deadpanned, smacking the book against his forehead and laying down onto the bed with it on top of his face, covering his view of the room. 

Kaito scuttled his way over to Shinichi’s side and took the book off the detective’s face. “According to Jii-chan, there’s a gem called Solar Eclipse nearby,” he said, flipping through the pages of the book with boredom, “it shouldn’t be too difficult to set up a heist real quick within the next few days.” 

“I wonder how things ended up like this,” Shinichi sighed, sitting up and leaning his head on a arm propped onto his knee. “I’m now helping a thief steal a gemstone, instead of trying to catch said thief,” he mused, giving Kaito a look that spelt a million things but the words thank you wasn’t one of them. “Is there anything you need in particular?” 

“Do you have a laptop I can borrow?” Kaito asked, “oh, and some cardstock and a pen.” 

“You’re really lucky my parents have a lot of cardstock because of their jobs.” Shinichi said, springing up to his feet and walking over to the desk in the corner of the room and opening a drawer to get what Kaito asked for. He threw the pen at Kaito who caught it easily and handed him the cardstock before heading to the door. “You can use my laptop, I'll go get it.” 

“I hope you don’t mind the FBI watching your search history,” Kaito called out from the bed as a joke, 

Shinichi turned around with the door halfway open, and faced Kaito. “Oh don’t worry, they already do,” he answered mischievously before leaving the room. 

“Seriously?!” Kaito muttered, dumbfounded. 

꧁꧂

Shinichi brought the heist note scheduled for the twenty-fifth to the police station several days ahead, on the account that it appeared in his mail along with the case files that Megure usually sent. Obviously, that wasn’t the case since Kaito wrote the note in his house but the police didn’t need to know that or he’d be arrested for assisting a wanted criminal, or in Shinichi’s case, an internationally wanted criminal who also happens to be his boyfriend. 

The heist was located in an art gallery in Beika, a couple blocks away from Shinichi’s house and near Tohto Tower at exactly midnight. Crowds of people flocked to the area just to see the thief in action, only to be blocked by almost double the number of police officers. Several spotlights were aimed at the night sky, filling the space that was usually reserved for helicopters but as per request of the art gallery’s director, Nakamori had to void his usual brigade and instead focus his force onto the small army’s worth of patrol cars under his command. 

Above all this, Shinichi and Kaito sat on the top of the Tohto Tower, covered by shadow and lit by the moon at the same time. With a leg dangling over the edge, Kaito leaned against Shinichi, feeling the warmth beneath his shirt and the cold dry wind against his bare skin. The detective’s eyes scanned the area below them without much interest as he got a lock of Kaito’s hair and twirled it in his hand.

“Isn’t your hair getting a bit long?” He asked absentmindedly, moving his attention to Kaito while still keeping a hand in the magician’s hair. The latter hummed softly, giving Shinichi the answer to his question as Kaito leaned closer to his detective before plating a kiss onto his cheeks then springing to his feet, leaving Shinichi beet red. 

Kaito turned on the spot behind Shinichi, a mischievous grin across his features. “All will make sense soon enough,” he said, answering the question quivering at the edge of the detective’s tongue before covering said detective with a cloth and revealing him soon after in the full Kaitou Kid regalia. Before Shinichi could open his mouth to react, Kaito pulled him up to his feet and kissed him on the lips. 

“You’re going to be Kid for tonight okay? Don’t worry, there aren’t many tricks planned, and Jii-chan and I will help you. My injury isn’t that bad anymore but I think that little girl next door will have my head if I held a heist in my condition. Hakubaka is going to be here but he won’t be much of a problem.” He said quickly, his hands rested on Shinichi’s shoulders so that they’re looking each other eye-to-eye. Slightly dazed and cheeks flushed to a whole new level, the detective nodded in agreement before his eyes widened in realization soon after. 

“Wait, Kaito!” Shinichi shouted in protest before he was pulled off the rooftop by Kaito, now clad in all back, in contrast with the all white suit Shinichi was wearing. Kaito pressed the button releasing the hang glider seconds before they became meat pancakes on the pavement. “Damn you,” he muttered, as he glided onto the rooftop of a nearby building out of the sight of the police with Kaito embraced in a relatively tight hug. “Next time you want to go skydiving, a warning would’ve helped,” Shinichi said, closing the hang glider. 

“You wouldn’t have done it if I told you,” Kaito retorted, tenderly rubbing a hand over his left side as he shifted his weight onto the opposite side. “Now then, before you get mad at me, let’s get this heist over with.” He silently walked over to the edge of the roof and took out a pair of binoculars. 

Shinichi narrowed his eyes, not-so-silently following Kaito with the sound of the cape blowing in the wind behind him. “I’m already mad at you. I’m just not shouting at you for obvious reasons,” he deadpanned, glaring at Kaito through the monocle. 

“Good news for me then,” Kaito grinned, putting away the binoculars and facing Shinichi. “On another note, this will be one of the easiest heists I’ve done to date,” he said, leaning back and stretching his arms above his head. 

“Obviously, you’re not the one doing the stealing,” Shinichi rolled his eyes and turned his gaze away from his overly relaxed companion. 

“That’s not what I meant, Shin-chan,” Kaito grumbled, “Nakamori was pretty limited with today’s heist so his security details are relatively lax, so you won’t have to do that much police officer-dodging especially in the dark, which reminds me, we have to go already.” He sprung onto his feet in one fluid motion, reaching a hand out to Shinichi who batted it away before standing up by himself. 

“You’re already injured, no need to make it even worse by acting the gentleman here,” Shinichi said, pulling down the rim of the hat on his head with his right and reaching out to Kaito with the other. “Come on, let’s get this over with so that I can continue reading my book,” 

Kaito chuckled, taking Shinichi’s outstretched hand which turned into a tight hug as the latter jumped off the building, deploying the hang glider once more and flying off towards the heist building. “You just wanted to be the gentleman in our relationship, am I right, Shin-chan?” 

“Shut up before I accidentally drop you,” Shinichi grumbled, tightening his hold on Kaito. The building below them grew closer as the spotlights moved, covering the pair of them in a glaringly bright light as the sound of a megaphone turning on echoed through the air. “Crap,” he cursed under his breath much to Kaito’s amusement. “Are you sure this is easy?” 

“Yep!” Kaito answered with a nod, making Shinichi fall a couple inches while trying to keep a firm hold on him. 

Shinichi tightened his grip on Kaito as he glared at him. “Oi! Careful, unless you want to end up as a pancake on top of Nakamori-keibu and his poor task force.” 

“I know for a fact that I won’t end up as a pancake.” Kaito said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding in agreement with himself. 

Narrowing his eyes, Shinichi looked at Kaito with a look that spelled ‘are you serious?’ “Why’s that?” He asked, 

“Because we’re already on top of the building,” Kaito answered, pointing down below them to the rooftop of the heist building. Shinichi let out a sigh of relief, lowering them by a couple inches at a time until their feet touched the floor beneath them. 

“What’s the plan now?” Shinichi asked after packing away the hang glider back into the cape. 

“We sneak in,” Kaito smirked, his tone playful and eyes sparkling with excitement. “This way,” he gestured, opening a door leading to a flight of stairs. He went inside with Shinichi following a couple steps behind him. 

“Isn’t this impractical?” Shinichi whispered as they made their way around a small group of police officers who were too busy talking to notice them. 

“What is?” 

“Your costume,” he said monotonously, tightly gripping Kaito’s card gun in one hand and holding the magician himself with the other.“It’s glaringly white.” They were hanging from the ceiling, several feet above the room where the Solar Eclipse was kept. Police officers didn’t pass that way, according to Kaito who had the entire plans for the building memorized before they left. 

“And if people know I wear white that’s what they’re going to look for instead of let’s say, black.” Kaito answered, “it’s easier to hide in, ironically. Anyways, hurry up, it’s five minutes ‘til midnight.” 

“I wish midnight can come faster so that I can put you down,” Shinichi groaned, feeling a small numbing pain in his hand holding them up. “I’m not exactly built with amazing upper body strength unlike you and a certain someone is very heavy,” 

“Your words hurt me Shin-chan,” Kaito pouted, swinging his legs in protest and receiving glares from a very pissed off detective. “Do you want to trade spots?” 

“And risk you bleeding out, no thank you,” Shinichi huffed, “besides, there’s a minute left and you need to do the actual stealing while I distract the police because we both know I can’t steal.” 

“Is this what I get for forcing you to wear that?” Kaito asked, glancing up at Shinichi with pouty eyes. 

“What do you think, stupid?” Shinichi deadpanned, narrowing his eyes. “I’m going to lower you down.” He loosened his hold on the grip of the card gun, and lowered them both into the now dark, display room for the gemstone. There were a few officers who had flashlights but most were still confused, especially Nakamori who started shouting commands at his subordinates. 

“Get the lights back on!” He shouted, his voice audible from even outside the building. 

Kaito let out a low chuckle from his spot next to the inspector, scaring him. “You don’t need to do that, Keibu-san.” He said, the inspector immediately turning to find the source of the voice he knew so well. 

“Kid!” Nakamori shouted, frantically searching in the dark for Kaito like a child lost in a mall. 

“Up here~” Shinichi hollered, gaining the attention of the officers in the room. Silently thanking his physical similarities with Kaito, Shinichi let out a small sigh before continuing to toy with the police. “Nakamori-keibu, shouldn’t you be paying more attention to the gemstone than me?” He asked when Kaito got the gem and was out of sight. 

“What do you mean the gem is right—“ Nakamori stated, turning around to prove a point with a flashlight in hand, showing a now empty display case where the Solar Eclipse was once kept. “—how did you..” he muttered, stunned by the ‘magic’ display. He aimed the flashlight to where Shinichi was and instead of a hanging phantom thief, Nakamori saw a broken window along with a note wedged into the concrete. Outside the window a silhouette of the thief could be seen in the middle of the moonlit sky, flying away. “Kaitou Kid!! Come back here! What are you idiots doing?? Catch that thief!” He exclaimed, nearly making all his subordinates hard of hearing once more as they rushed out of the building to chase the thief. 

The police officers all left in a crowd, leaving the room empty. “Ke ke ke,” Kaito chuckled, coming out from a hiding spot near the door. “Nakamori-keibu never learns.” 

“Oh, but I do, Kuroba-kun,” a painfully familiar voice said as they entered the room with a grin across his face which was the complete opposite of the look that Kaito wore beneath his poker face. 

Kaito clicked his tongue with annoyance before turning to face Hakuba. “What do you want?” He spat, acid in his words spraying across the room and all the way to the floor above where Shinichi was hiding. 

“I came to catch Kaitou Kid, what else?” Hakuba said nonchalantly as he placed his hands into his pockets. “Why are you here, Kuroba-kun?” 

“None of your business,” Kaito replied, sticking his tongue out like a child, much to Shinichi’s amusement. 

“It is my business if you came here to steal the Solar Eclipse,” Hakuba said, taking a step towards Kaito. “Now hand over the topaz, Kaitou Kid.” 

Taking the name of the infamous phantom thief as his cue, Shinichi dropped down from the floor above and landed somewhat gracefully onto the floor in front of the pair, his back lit by the moon and cape flowing down around him. “I think you got the wrong person, Tantei-san,” he smirked, standing up to his full height and placing his hands into the pockets of his pants. Hakuba’s eyes widened in surprise as he took a step back in response. 

“Haha, very funny Kuroba-kun, I’m one hundred percent sure that that’s your assistant dressed up as Kaitou Kid to give you an alibi.” Hakuba said, his voice wavering a little as the hypothesis he built up for the last five years slowly burnt down. 

Shinichi forced down the urge to laugh and agree to his fellow detective’s words and instead walked over to Kaito who dropped the gem onto the floor several feet away from him. “Tantei-san, I recommend that you think about your deductions before accusing random people of crimes they didn’t commit, much less that they’re an internationally wanted thief like myself,” he said, picking up the topaz that had a circle of black in the middle and raising it up to the light of the moon. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaito was barely moving his head left to right in disagreement. “Looks like this wasn’t the gem I was looking for,” Shinichi sighed, throwing the gem towards Kaito who caught it with his right hand. 

“Wait, Kid!” Hakuba called out to Shinichi who was at the window, a foot resting of it’s edge as he prepared to jump out of it. He walked several steps towards Shinichi, his fists clenched at his sides. “I will find out who you are.” He said with finality in his voice, 

“I’d like to see you try,” Shinichi challenged, jumping out of the window and opening the hang glider. 

Kaito let out a barely audible sigh of relief before he handed the Solar Eclipse to Hakuba. “I hope that this was enough to convince you, Hakubaka,” he said as he waved the stunned brit goodbye. As he walked down the halls of the art gallery, Kaito took out his phone and messaged Shinichi. 

Several minutes later, they met up at an alleyway near Tohto Tower, and to no surprise, Kaito was met with a really pissed off detective… 

“Change my clothes back,” Shinichi demanded, arms crossed against his chest while the hat and monocle of the costume were abandoned at his feet. “Or I’ll put Ran’s lessons to use and punch you to the next century.” 

Letting out a nervous sigh, Kaito quickly changed Shinichi’s clothes back to the t-shirt and jeans he was wearing before and just as quickly dodged a kick the detective sent his way. “Oi oi, I thought you weren’t going to hit me,” he said, jumping over another kick before doing a handspring away from Shinichi to pick up the hat. 

“I didn’t say that,” Shinichi said bluntly, stopping his attack. “I just said that I will use what Ran taught me to hit you, right now I’m using things I’ve learnt from soccer. Now stop dodging,” he said, aiming another kick at Kaito who jumped away and shot his card gun on the grappling hook setting at a fire escape, pulling himself several feet above Shinichi’s head. 

“Please forgive me, Shin-chyan!!” Kaito begged, as he held onto the grip of his card gun for dear life. “I won’t do it again, I promise!” 

“Like hell, I’ll let you do that again,” Shinichi grumbled, glaring daggers at Kaito. “You can stay up there, by the way, I’ll be heading home,” he added as he left the alley with a wave goodbye. 

“Maybe I should go back to my house tonight,” Kaito blinked. He slowly lowered himself back onto solid ground and stood there thinking for a while before his feet brought him to the one place that he shouldn’t be in at the moment—Shinichi’s house. “Why did I come here?” He deadpanned, turning around to walk away only to be called by someone. 

“Kuroba-kun, what are you doing outside at this hour?” She asked, gaining Kaito’s attention as he turned around to reveal the owner of the voice who is awake at one in the morning. 

“Haibara-chan,” Kaito said, acknowledging her presence. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?” 

“I do, but that doesn’t justify why you are outside at this hour,” she said sternly, looking him up and down. “Did you and Kudo-kun fight?” Haibara asked, her tone blunt and uncaring, and scary if he didn’t know her true age. Kaito gave her a shallow nod in response as he toyed with the hem of his shirt. “There’s nothing I can do about that, sadly,” she said, shrugging. “Apologizing always goes a long way, did you try that?” 

“Yep..no..I’m not so sure if he took it as an apology or as a joke coming from me,” Kaito shrugged, leaning onto the wall surrounding Shinichi’s house’s lawn. Haibara opened her mouth to give some sort of advice before she was interrupted by the loud screech of the gate behind him opening and an awkward cough from its owner. Kaito shrunk in his place, in fear of another assault of kicks to be thrown his way. “Shin...ichi,” he breathed, feeling seconds away from melting into the wall. 

“I’ll leave you two to your business, I’m going to bed,” Haibara yawned, heading back into the professor’s house. 

“Now then, let’s go inside before you catch a cold,” Shinichi said firmly, tugging on Kaito’s arm and bringing him inside his mansion. 

The inside of Shinichi’s home was as warm as his hand surrounding Kaito’s wrist was cold. He hasn’t gotten a glimpse of his detective’s face but Kaito was sure that it would be something he’d only want to see once in his entire lifetime. His gaze traced the lines of the wood that trailed around the floor, it looked more interesting than where they were heading until the sound of a door opening startled Kaito back into reality. He jumped at the sound, forgetting Shinichi’s hand that was still clasped around his wrist and tripping over his own feet as a result. 

“Careful,” Shinichi muttered, pulling Kaito back onto his feet and going into the room—a room Kaito has never seen the inside of before. “Sit down,” he commanded, letting go of Kaito’s wrist and gesturing towards the bed in the middle of the room surrounded by bookshelves. It had a light green blanket and white pillows and covers beneath it. He cautiously took a seat at the edge of the bed nearest to the door, ready to run away in case Shinichi gets mad at him again. “What were you doing outside at this hour?” Shinichi asked as he dragged a chair over, placed it in front of Kaito and took a seat. 

Kaito blinked, his mouth threatening to open from shock. “Y-you’re not mad?” He raised his gaze and looked Shinichi in the eye. The detective looked calm, collected and nothing like he was an hour ago. 

“At you?” Shinichi asked, raising an eyebrow and receiving a shy nod from Kaito as a response. “I was, stupid.” He sighed, resting his head into his hand. “Who wouldn’t be after you forced them to act like an internationally wanted thief in front of a very keen detective.” Kaito felt like he was going to melt into the bed at any second. A strange feeling went up his throat and made his mind swirl as he listened to the detective’s words slowly accusing him of a crime. “That being said, now you have an alibi for Hakuba-kun and that’s better than my boyfriend ending up in jail while he’s trying to catch actual bad guys,” he said slowly, as if he was intentionally trying to drag on Kaito’s suffering. “Wouldn’t that be a good way to tarnish someone’s reputation.” Shinichi added with a laugh. 

“So~ you’re not going to kick me again?” Kaito peeped, his body tensing up in fear. Shinichi stood up from his seat. Taking several steps towards the magician and crouching down in front of him. Their eyes locked for a second before it was interrupted by Shinichi who flicked Kaito in the head. “Ouchie~ what was that for Shinichi?” He barked, his hands covering the small red spot caused by Shinichi. 

“Maybe you do have rice for brains, I heard some rattling in there,” he said, smiling. “I’m not mad at you anymore, stupid. Just don’t force me to do it again, we might not get away so easily next time.” Shinichi sat down next to Kaito, the latter tightly embracing the former with glee. 

“Yay! Shin-chan’s not mad at me!” Kaito exclaimed as he hugged the detective with a gigantic smile across his face but stopping once a thought crossed his mind. “I can call you Shin-chan again right?” 

“Do whatever,” Shinichi sighed, turning his face away from Kaito to hide the blush covering his face along with a small smile. 

“Ne, Shin-chan.” Kaito pestered, poking Shinichi with his head. 

Turning around, Shinichi was immediately met with Kaito’s face. “What?” He asked, trying to back away from the magicians face only to be held still by his hand that was still resting on his shoulders. He could feel Kaito’s breath against his cheek. It was warm, and consistent, like a reminder that he was still alive and breathing right in front of him. At this distance, Shinichi could see every detail on Kaito’s face, from the crinkles that were made whenever he smiled to the small creases along his eyes. 

“I love you,” Kaito whispered, nuzzling his nose against Shinichi’s. 

“I knew that, Bakaito,” 


End file.
